Second Guessed

Chapter 3

I'm gonna start this off with an Omake that I wanted at the end of chapter two, but forgot about. I'll put it here at the beginning of this chapter so I don't forget again. Thanks!

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Omake

When Maven was two years old.

The marine yard was bustling as the recruits went about their exercises and drills. But one section of the covered walkway leading to Training Yard Seven was filled with silence. Silence, that is, that was penetrated only by soft whispers. A secret lesson was going on, one that both participants knew must absolutely not be discovered.

"Almost there, Maven. Just sharpen the syllable."

"Gweezah, gweezah... gue... geh... gw... geezah!"

"Almost there! Repeat after me, geezer. Geezer, Garps is a geezer. Your gramps is a geezer."

"Geezah!"

"Good. Now who is Vice Admiral Garp?"

"Stupid geezah!"

"Good, goo—"

"KUZAN, WHAT ARE YOU TEACHING MY GRANDDAUGHTER?!"

"Maven, what are we?"

Scwewed. We vewy sc... scw... screwed."

"Very good Maven. Now let me pick you up so we can run."

End Omake.

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"Gyah!" Yeah, my hand-to-hand sucked. I was reminded of this as I was tossed onto the ground, a plume of dust rising from the ground from my landing.

"Oi, oi, oi. When was the last time you sparred with anyone?" Ace asked, looking down at me with his hands on his hips. Like Sabo had offered, I had been able to get in on their hundred spars a day. Unfortunately, the only person I had won against so far had been Luffy.

"This is the first day I've even had anyone to spar against in over three months! I'm not counting crocodiles, they get predictable fast," I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. "Before that? Do you honestly think there were any other kids at marine headquarters to spar against?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He and Sabo shared a glance before looking back at me, half worried and half amused.

"So who did you practice with? Gramps?"

"And some of the other Vice Admirals," I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck. "Vice Admiral Kuzan was the one that liked me the most besides Gramps. And he was a bit more merciful, not that that says much," Ace, Luffy and I all cringed at the reminder of Gramps' training style. "But the closest I ever got to fighting someone my own age is when one of the lower ranks offered to fight me because they were bored."

"So this is the first time you've ever been able to have a fair spar," Sabo mused, looking at the board. I had won thirty-three fights against Luffy already, and lost twenty each against Ace and Sabo.

I stood up, dusting myself off.

"Well, we know it has nothing to do with lack of strength," Ace thought out loud. "You've been staring at rocks and staffs too long, you don't know how to predict an attack or what counter would work best. And your speed sucks too."

"Ah. I guess I have been neglecting my leg muscles a bit, haven't I?" I looked down at my feet with a frown. "Well, no matter. I'll just work in speed training into my day."

"Replace some of your staff and hatchet trainings in the morning with it," Sabo suggested. "You don't need as much practice with those."

"Ah. Okay, Sabo. You're next!"