Chapter 4: The Rescue

"Hey! What in the world are you doing! Put me down!" Erisa said from over Ace's shoulder as she started kicking her feet, trying to get free of his grasp on her.

I don't know who she is, or why she was on this ship but she's handcuffed so they must have had her here for some reason. Ace thought to himself before his chest started burning with all of the kicks that he was receiving from the stubborn girl.

Well, I can't leave her on this burning pirate ship. I guess I'll just bring her to the Old Man. Ace thought to himself as he looked around the now burning pirate ship.

"Will you quit kicking me! I'm trying to get you off of this boat!" Ace said, his voice irritated due to the many kicks he was receiving from Erisa.

"Take me where!? How do I know you're not just going to kill me!?" Erisa yelled at Ace. Her voice was questioning as she started to become more and more angry at him.

"Well, if you keep kicking me I just might..." Ace mumbled to himself as he slowly started to climb the ladder back across to White Beard's ship.

That ship is so huge! Erisa thought to herself as she looked up at White Beard's giant ship The Moby Dick, which towered over The Hell Hounds boat, making the Hell Hound ship look like a toy boat in comparison.

Suddenly Erisa remembered that Victoria was still on the Hell Hounds' burning ship, causing her to yell out at Ace, almost making him loose his balance and making both of them fall in the water.

"Wait! Please! We can't leave! My friend, she's still tied to the mast!" Erisa yelled up at him as she felt him take a deep breath before yelling out some guy's name.

"MARCO! HEY MARCO!" She heard Ace yell as a blonde haired man looked over the side of the Moby Dick.

"Yeah Ace, what do you want?" Marco said as he eyed Ace with a curious look. His eyes focused in on Erisa, who still hung like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder.

Who is the girl that Ace is carrying on his shoulder? Marco thought to himself before being interrupted by Ace's voice.

"Marco! There is a girl tied to the mast of that ship! Could you go get her before that thing sinks?!" Ace said as Marco helped him and a very pale looking Erisa onto the deck of the Moby Dick.

"Yeah, I got it," Marco said as he activated his Devil Fruit. His arms lighting up in bright blue and yellow flames, he wasted no time in flying down to the Hell Hounds' small burning ship.

"He-He- can fly?" Erisa stuttered out loud in utter shock as Ace carefully sat her down on the deck of the Moby Dick. She quickly got up and watched Marco fly down to the ship in awe.

"Yeah, Marco ate the Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruit and he's also first commander of the White Beard Pirates," Ace said, grinning at Erisa's expression as she watched Marco still in shock before she turned around to face him.

Erisa looked around the huge deck of the Moby Dick in awe. She started to feel very nervous as she saw tons of crew members gathered on the deck, all staring at her. Her mouth then dropped as she looked to see a huge man sitting in a chair with medical lines connected to him as he, too looked down at her with a hard stare.

This has to be White Beard. Erisa thought, the tension in the air became so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.

(~o0o~)

Damn it! I'm going to be burned alive! Victoria thought in horror as she desperately pulled on her bound hands. The flames grew taller and Victoria saw more and more pirates start jumping off the side of the boat. She started choking from all of the smoke in the air when suddenly, she felt someone cut loose her hands.

"Hey, I'm here to get you out of here," she heard a man say as she was suddenly pulled to her feet. Someone grabbed onto her wrist and started running at such a pace Victoria could barely keep up.

"Hey! Where are you dragging me to!" Victoria shouted at the stranger as he then suddenly stopped abruptly, causing Victoria to run straight into the stranger's back.

"Hey! Steady the ladder!" Victoria heard a strong manly voice call out as her eyes started to focus in on the man in front of her, his blonde hair being the first thing she saw.

"Hey! Climb on my back so I can get you out of here," the stranger said as he motioned Victoria to climb onto him. Victoria then quickly climbed onto his back, not even thinking about it twice as she looked back at the burning ship. She then clung to the stranger for dear life.

Ah! This girl is choking me! Marco thought to himself as he made his way up the ladder to the deck of the Moby Dick. When he reached the deck of the Moby Dick, he had to peel the frightened girl off him as he watched as her brown hair friend, who Ace had carried up rushed toward him and the girl he had just rescued.

"Thank you so much!" Erisa said to the blonde man who she remembered Ace had called Marco who stood there and nodded at her.

He too is actually quite attractive. Erisa thought to herself, now that she got a better look at him. Though she could tell he was much older than Ace, just by the way he looked. He, too bore the symbol of the White Beard pirates, although its shape was slightly different and it was placed on his chest without the skull.

What is it with guys on this ship and no shirts? Erisa thought to herself as she also noticed that Marco wore just an open purple jacket which showed his lean but muscular chest. It was followed by a light blue sash and an elaborate brown and golden belt paired with knee length gray pants.

She then snapped out of her gawking as she bent down to sit by Victoria who was sitting on the deck of the Moby Dick, strangely quiet.

"Hey Victoria, are you alright?" Erisa said as she, too caught Victoria looking over Marco before Victoria turned to face Erisa and hugged her tightly.

"Yeah. I'm so sorry I dragged you into that. It's all my fault," Victoria said as her voice filled with regret and sadness.

"It's just as much of my fault as it's yours," Erisa said as she looked at Victoria and smiled, making her grin.

"Well, at least we are off the shitty ship!" Victoria said with a light laugh as she and Erisa got up from the ground to now face the audience of the new pirate crew that stared at them, followed by their burly captain who now cleared his throat loudly. He looked at the two of them before looking at Ace and Marco.

"Ace, Marco. Who are these strange kids that you have brought onto my boat?" White Beard's thick voice boomed, causing both Erisa and Victoria to look at each other and gulp.