Chapter 2 : Meeting the Captain

Marco and Thatch had finally looked through the forest and were returning to the Moby Dick.

"Ah, my sons, you're back. What took you so long?" Whitebeard inquired.

"Sorry Oyaji. We met some interesting kids -yoi." Marco and Thatch walked on the deck and were now in front of their 'father.'

"Kids? Since when do you hang with kids?" Jozu raised an eyebrow suspiciously. Whitebeard also looked at his sons, curious about their answers.

Marco chose to ignore Jozu's question. "Anyways, there were two of them. I think their names were Ace and Luffy."

"Ace looked about nine or ten and acted like he got a pipe shoved up his ass. Luffy was a bit younger and the complete opposite, he was all jumpy and happy." Thatch informed.

"Gurarara, sounds like an interesting pair of brats." Whitebeard bellowed. Marco however, had a deep frown on his face, much to Whitebeard's dislike.

"What's wrong, my son?"

"I was just thinking about something they said -yoi. They said that they live in the mountains with mountain bandits. They don't have any parents -yoi." Marco carefully studied his father's face and he smiled. He knew that expression anywhere. It's the look when Whitebeard is thinking about recruiting that person into their family.

"Oyaji...?" Marco smirked knowingly.

"Find the brats and bring them here. I want to meet them."

"Roger that." Marco and Thatch said simultaneously.

"This forest is really getting on my nerves," Thatch said as he slashed the sixth animal that tried to kill him.

"I wonder how the kids grew up in a place like this?" Marco had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"AHHH!" a childish voice screamed.

"LUFFY!"

Marco and Thatch started running to the source of the screams. When they got there, to say they were surprised would be an understatement. Their jaws dropped to the ground at the sight they saw. There, Ace and Luffy were sitting proudly on a huge tiger that was clearly defeated.

When both the commanders saw the smug look Ace was giving them, they quickly picked up their jaws and composed themselves.

"Surprised?" Ace smirked.

"Did you see that! So cool right?!" Luffy was beaming at them.

"Yeah..." the two men managed to squeak out.

Ace jumped down the tiger, Luffy following. "What are you two still doing here?" It was obvious to the two men that they were clearly not welcomed here.

Thatch decided to take advantage of Luffy's love for pirates and smiled kindly. "Do you guys wanna meet Whitebeard?" he offered.

"Of course! Let's go Ace!"

"No."

"But whyyy~" Luffy whined.

"Idiot," Ace punched him. "It could be a trap for all we know. Remember what happened with Bluejam?"

Luffy immediately stopped complaining and glared at the commanders. His glare had softened a few seconds later though. "Ace, they won't hurt us. They're good people."

Ace knew that Luffy's instincts were never wrong but that didn't mean he could let his guard down. He couldn't trust them. Not yet anyway.

'Who is this Bluejam?' Thatch thought. He looked to his right and saw that Marco was just as confused.

'Did this Bluejam guy make them scared of pirates? No, Luffy was excited when he heard we were pirates.' Marco however snapped out of his thoughts when he saw the two retreating figures.

"Oi, don't you want to see a real pirate ship?" Thatch yelled to the two kids. They immediately turned around and started walking back.

Marco could see the curiosity behind the frown on Ace's face. "It's really huge. One of the biggest pirate ship ever made!" he exclaimed, hoping to get Ace somewhat on board.

Thatch could see the inner battle in Ace's head. "We may be pirates, but we don't harm children."

"Okay," Ace relented after a couple of minutes. "But only for a short while and we get to take our pipes with us."

"Yay! We're gonna see a real pirate ship!" Luffy cheered.

All four of them started walkng to the shore where the Moby Dick was docked. Ace, Thatch, and Marco could only watch in amusement as they watch Luffy bouncing everywhere, chanting 'ship,ship,ship!' When the ship finally came into sight, Ace and Luffy could only stare at the ship in awe. The ship was almost the size of a small island and had a big whale in the front. The only pirate ship they saw before was Naguri's, but his was basic and had no design.

Marco and Thatch just smiled at their awe-struck face. This was the first time they ever saw an expression that wasn't a frown on Ace's face.

"Come on, Oyaji is waiting for you guys."

Thatch and Marco were walking on deck with Ace and Luffy following closely. Ace and Luffy were gazing at the ship as they got closer to Whitebeard's chair. It wasn't until they both ran into the commanders' back and fell onto their butt when they realize they were in front of the strongest man in the world.

"So these were the brats you were talking about huh?" Whitebeard leaned in a little closer to get a better look at them.

"WAHHH Giant Ossan! Neh, is that a white banana under your nose!? Can I eat it?!" Luffy exclaimed

'This one must be Luffy,' Whitebeard thought. 'He sure fits the description perfectly.'

Whitebeard continued staring at the straw hatted boy. Ace immediately noticed this and shoved Luffy behind him and got into a fighting position.

"Gurarara, cheeky brat." Whitebeard then chugged a huge bottle of sake before looking at the brats again.

"Do you brats wanna become pirates?"

"No." Everyone within the hearing range was stunned at the little one's blunt answer. "I want to become the Pirate King!" Luffy exclaimed. Everyone besides the commanders and Whitebeard face-planted on the floor.

"You're a hundred years too young to become Pirate King brat!"

"I don't care. I WILL become the Pirate King!" Luffy huffed.

Whitebeard smiled in amusement at the young one's antics. "I see. You runts can look around the ship if you want."

At that moment, Ace's and Luffy's stomach grumbled loudly. Ace looked away in embarrassment while Luffy groaned dramatically.

"Food..."

Thatch chuckled an threw an arm around the two brothers. "Why don't we eat first, then tour, hm?" He guided them to the galley.

Thatch placed two plates filled with different kinds of meat, vegetables, and fruits. "Here, dig in."

The two kids just stared at Thatch with a blank expression. "You could of poisoned this." Ace pointed out.

Thatch looked bewildered at the accusation. "I would never do that!" Thatch ate a little of each plate to prove his point. "See? I'm not dying. Oh wait-" Thatch started making choking sounds until Marco came and hit him on the head.

"Stop playing around -yoi. Don't worry, the food isn't poisonened. Thatch just likes being an idiot." Marco explained. Ignoring the complaints from his friend, he got his own plate of food and sat down at the same table as the brats.

Ace and Luffy started scarfing down all of the food at an alarming pace. Some of the other crewmembers were surprised but then started placing bets on who would choke first. After Luffy turned a nice shade of blue, followed by some groans and cheers from crew members, they were done eating.

It took half an hour for the whole tour of the ship and now, they were all resting on the deck. "When I become a pirate, I want a ship this big, no wait, I want it bigger than this!" Luffy exclaimed.

"My ship will be bigger than yours Luffy!" Ace taunted.

"Eh no way! Mine will be...the size of an island."

"It will be harder to move around," Thatch commented.

"That's true..." Ace said thoughtfully.

"I changed my mind! I want a small one that's comfortable!" Everyone sweatdropped at the sudden change.

"Imagine Gramps listening to our conversation," Ace and Luffy shuddered.

"Gramps?" Marco asked.

"Mmm. Gramps wanted us to be Marines but we don't wanna." Luffy pouted while turning his head away.

At that moment, a person came out onto the deck, yawning. The person was wearing a fancy blue top coat with a white scarf and a slightly damaged black top hat with broken blue goggles resting on the rim.

Ace and Luffy felt the hairs on their neck stand up and turned in that direction. What they saw shocked them to no ends.

"SABO!?"