Another chapter hope you enjoy and thank you for reading. ~Choreboy Out!

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece, the only thing I own here is my character and any I make up to progress her story.

Episode Eleven: World's strongest

"Okay so let me get this straight, Marco is the first division commander, he's known as the Phoenix because of his devil fruit which is an extremely rare mythical zoan type, and I'll know him when I see him because he looks like a pineapple?" I state questionably. Ace and I have spent all morning going over the hierarchies and crew members of the White Beard pirates which he is a part of. Not surprisingly most of his descriptions sound too farfetched to believe, but I have to remind myself so far everything I've seen in this world has been too farfetched to believe.

"Yeah but you can't tell him I said that otherwise he'd ring my neck." Ace reiterates sounding a tab bit pensive, I roll my eyes at him.

"Got it." I reassure with the smile of a Cheshire cat across my lips, like that's convincing anyone.

"I'm serious." He warns trying to mark his point as clear as possible but I can't help but continue to snicker at him now that I have ammunition for later use.

"I'm sure you are, anyways moving on." I sign teasingly, "So after pineapple head then there's you as second division commander, rather impressive for a narcoleptic. The third division commander is Jozu. His devil fruit allows his to turn into diamond and is a logia type. He's a very large, very quite kind of guy who's always wearing a scowl. Next is Thatch the fourth division commander. He's the one I have to look out for right?" I question to make sure I have my facts straight and Ace nods with a goofy smile across his face. It almost makes me suspicious of him.

"And that's because he's a real "ladies man," I say adding in a set of air quotes to emphasize my sarcasm, "After Thatch is Vista, commander of the fifth division. He's got a sweet stash and top hat. Then there's Blamenco sixth division, Rakuyo has dreads and is the seventh division commander. Namur is a fish man who's the eighth division commander, after him is Blenhiem in charge of the ninth division, Curiel tenth division, Kingdew eleventh division. The only female division commander is Haruta and she's in charge of twelfth division. You said she has a hot temper right?" I look up to Ace again for confirmation and his face instantly sours as he shudders from a not to fond memory. "Really?"

"She's a monster." He warns and I chuckle at him.

"Come one she can't be that bad." I try to defend the poor woman I've never met but Ace seems to be having none of that as he shakes his head.

"No she is, you'll see when you meet her." He mumbles hastily gaining a strange look from me.

"Okay moving along. Atmos is in charge of the thirteenth division, Speed Jiru is the fourteenth, Fossa fifteenth, and lastly is Izo the sixteenth division commander and he's a he but looks like a woman. So did I get everyone?" I question finishing the long list of Whitebeard division commanders, Ace nods approvingly.

"Damn I didn't think you'd get all that." He comments causing me to give him a skeptical look. Unfortunately he's too busy watching the waters in front of us to catch it. Looking away I purse my lip pouting until an idea pops in to my head as I catch sight of the glistening ocean spray his tiny vessel creates as we speed through the water.

"Yeah well I'm good with that sort of thing." I inform indignantly hearing him chuckle, smiling to myself I glance up at the globe of water I have hovering over Ace's head. Decisions, decisions I ponder before releasing my hold on the globe. It falls in slow motion onto Ace causing him to jump startled while I laugh at his expense.

"What the hell?" he exclaims looking down at me, I give him a sly smile like I'm innocent and he just shakes his head as steam billows from him. "Real cute."

"I know I am." I tease with a wink to which Ace just rolls his eyes then seconds later smirks.

"It's a good thing I like you," he tosses back at me I give him another smile before laying back against the bow. I watch as puffy white clouds pass over head a yawn finds its way from my lips and I stretch for a moment.

We've already been sailing for somewhere around four hours and I wonder how much longer it's going to take for us to reach the meeting place Ace had set up with his crew. Sitting up I lean forward to grab my back pack only to pause when I realize something is jabbing into my hip. I lean back then dig into the pockets of my shorts to retrieve the perpetrator, only to be confused by what I find and realize this was what Dragon had handed me back before we left. Is this really what he gave me? A snail?

"Ace, what's this?" I ask curiously as I hold up the small creature for him to see. He glances down to my out stretched and near leaps over the side of the boat from shock. I have to draw back my hand and shield the small creature to ensure he doesn't knock it over board.

"Where did you get that?" he demands overly excited. For a moment I just stare at him then at the small roundish white snail in my hands. All that over this little guy, huh who knew?

"Dragon gave it to me before we left. Said to use it if I ever needed anything. But how the hell am I supposed to use a snail?" I explain as I inspect the small creature. Other than a small metal port in its shell there's nothing usual or special about it. Ace laughs above me causing me to look up at him questionably.

"I guess that says it all." He comments rubbing his brow with the back of his arm. I feel even more confused now than before. "It's a white den den mushi." He begins and I have to interrupt him.

"A den den what?" I question which again make him laugh, I feel this is going to happen a lot until I figure this place out."

"A den den mushi, a transponder snail," he can see the confusion on my face as I stare at him then look down to said snail.

"No shit I get that it's a snail." I reply again cutting off his explanation, which seems to frustrate him all to hell.

"Would you let me finish?" he demands and I immediately shut up to appease him. "Anyways den den mushi's are used to communicate with people that are far away from each." I give his a questionable look as he gives his explanation, then begin to study the small sleeping creature in the palm of my hand.

"Are you sure?" I ask skeptically, this is another one of those farfetched things I can't believe right away.

"OF course I'm sure," Ace snaps defensively but quickly reproaches remembering I'm not from this world. "Um shit, how can I explain this? Uhh it works kind of like that cell phone thing of yours, you can make calls to another den den mushi if you know the person." Well I guess that makes sense I think while looking over the creature once more, it's really hard to believe though.

"What a minute if this is a normal thing then why did you freak out when you saw this little guy?" I question remembering his little freak out like two seconds ago.

"That's because that's a white den den mushi, instead of making and taking calls that once is used to keep other people from listening to the calls you make if you hook it into a regular one." He clarifies and I make your classic OH face while nodding. I still don't really get it but what the hell, when in Rome. Ace continues to point out a few more things about den den mushi's while I safely tuck the little white guy away in my back pack. After words the ride returns to silence so I pull out my iPod like I'd originally planned and lay back eventually falling asleep.

I awake sometime later only because the boat comes to an abrupt stop scaring the living begibees out of me. Sitting blot up right I snatch my head phones from my ears and look around groggily. The sky's already starting to turn orange with the rays of sun set making me wonder how long I've been out. Rubbing my eyes I glance up at Ace about to question what's wrong when I notice he's staring at something in front of us which is currently behind me. He notices I'm awake and nods toward the horizon encouraging me to take a look.

As I turn to see what's wrong my jaw drops I awe of what I find. Sitting a few hundred yards away is the most massive sailing ship I have ever seen, it's size is comparable to that of an air craft carrier back home. It has three towering mast spanning it's length with a fourth smaller one bringing up the rear. Cannon port after cannon port line the side of the richly painted blue haul, giving me the impression that it has some serious fire power, but it's most distinguishing feature, the part that really gives the ship character is its figure head. The entire front quarter of the ship is carved and designed to look like the head of a blue whale only painted white in color. It is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, it makes Dragon's ship pale in comparison. Looking back at Ace I am pretty much speechless,

"That's?" I manage to spit out and I think he gets what I'm saying because he laughs at me with a nod.

"Yup that's the Moby Dick." He confirms tilting the brim of his hat back for a better look. I also look back at the ship still in awe. "Ready?" Ace questions finished with his moment, I nod slowly still not done with mine that is until he starts propelling us forward again.

It takes us a few short minutes to reach the side of the Moby and as I look up I have to crane my neck all the way back just to see the railing above. Shouts can be heard from above, cheerful and commanding a like. Even a few heads peak over to get a look at us but from down here I can't tell what any of them look like. Suddenly a wave of anxiety washes over me, I've never been good with new people.

"Looks like they're all waiting for us." I comment nervously as I look back to Ace. He's slung his bag and my pack over his shoulders.

"I think they're all excited to meet you," He replies and I give him a strange look as I take my smaller back pack from him.

"Why? I'm not anything special?" Now he's giving me a strange look.

"Well you did take out an entire island," he reminds me while I'm carefully shrugging on my bag. I pause momentarily, well yeah I guess that does make sense…wait!

"And they're okay with that?" I ask cautiously, normally people wouldn't be okay with something like that. In fact I kind of expect anyone I meet who knows that to treat me much like the people of Orchid had. A pile of rope grabs my attention when it lands on the bow right behind me, right where I had been seated earlier. Staring for a moment I then look back up the side of the ship with a shake of my head before looking back at Ace.

"We're pirates, we're okay with a lot of things." He comments nonchalantly as he starts to work with some rope that had been dropped on the aft end as well. Why do I get the feeling these guys are going to be a bad influence on me?

Settling with his answer I watch as he works the rope with practiced easy, looping it through eye holes on the boat I hadn't noticed before. Once finished with the aft he begins work on the bow and in no time everything is rigged and set to be hoisted. He hollers up at the people above and in no time we start rising up the side of the Moby. Anxiety starts in my stomach and quickly spreads to my chest almost making it hard to breath.

As soon as we can see sky over the railing Ace leaps up landing with ease and leaving me behind. An up roar of voices all sound at once at his appearance causing me to smile. He greets them boisterously before turning back to me offering a hand as the small boat has risen to his level. I take it and hap hazardously jump over the railing almost tripping as I land on deck, thankfully Ace still has my hand keeping me up right.

"You alright?" he asks and I nod looking up at our surroundings. Suddenly I am all too aware that all eyes are on me. There are a least fifty men on deck all gathered around waiting in anticipation and they aren't exactly quiet about it.

"Is that her?"

"She kinda matches the poster."

"She doesn't look all that frightening."

"They must have gotten it wrong, it's gotta be a miss print."

"Yeah there's no way they'd pay that much for such a little thing."

I swallow hard as I look around at all the gazes on me, everyone is curious as more faces shove in to get a look at me. This must be how the animals at the zoo feel, I think as I bite into my lower lip while awkwardly standing next to Ace who's speaking with the man in charge of the hoist. Okay you can all stop staring now, it's getting a little weird. I glance up to Ace expectantly and that's when I fell the familiar surge of energy when something rapidly changes around me. Without hesitation I turn back to the side of the ship shocked by what I find.

A large bird lands gracefully on the railing before me and it has to be the most jaw dropping sight I've seen thus far. Neon blue flames flicker along every inch of its boy with hints of gold here and there, the most noticeable being the tuft on top of its head. Another detail I notice right of the bat is the dark blue symbol on its chest, a cross with an upward facing crescent. It looks familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it. As I continue to stare in awe the flames suddenly engulf the creature then just as quickly dissipates and in its place is a man in a purple shirt, blue pants, tuft of bold hair a top his head, and he same cross design tattooed onto his toned chest.

"Marco!" Ace greets from next to me, he claps a hand down on my shoulder snapping me out of my trance. The man he's referring to steps down from the railing gaze still locked on me and ignoring Ace completely. I try not to cringe as he steps up to tower over me, like everyone else in my life, but still I flinch when he brings something up next to my face. My entire being goes ridged as he compares whatever he's holding to me.

"Other then you hair it's a perfect match, yoi!" He states once satisfied with his comparison. Yoi? What the hell does that mean? I wonder as I release the breath I've been holding. Wait did he just say match?

"Match to what?" I voice out loud as he takes on a much more relaxed, almost laid back stance. A curious look falls over his feature while staring at me, then he smirks and I don't know if I should be scared of it or charmed by it.

"I guess you haven't seen this yet then, yoi?" There it is again, what is with this yoi thing? He holds out a piece of paper towards me but before I can take it and look it over Ace interrupts.

"Oi Marco," Ace warns hotly and I look up at him confused.

"She didn't even flinch," Marco replies calmly, hardly reacting to Ace's tone at all. Okay now I'm really confused, what the hell is going on here? "Anyway I think this is a more pressing concern, yoi." He hands Ace the page he was about to hand me and seconds after looking at it Ace begins to wig out.

"This can't be real! Have they lost their minds?!" he exclaims looking back up at Marco, I stare wide eyed between the two.

"What?" I ask still lost in translation, this doesn't sound good. Unfortunately to my dismay the two ignore me as they start discussing the matter at hand. Clenching my jaw and folding my arms over my chest anger begins to settle in my stomach.

"There's never been a bounty this high on a beginner." Ace comments which catches my attention, bounty?

"Well obviously they are threatened by what she can do," Marco replies with a glance toward me. I stare back at him swallowing hard to force the lump in the back of my throat down, this isn't good. "To be honest I'm a little intimidated myself, yoi." He admits still looking at me. Finally I can't hold it in any longer,

"What the hell is going on?" I demand throwing my hands out, Ace looks at me like he's surprised I'm still here. This seems to piss me off all the more as I scowl up at him. Reluctantly he hands me the page that is the topic of all this and I take it quickly looking it over. In large bold letters across the top of the page is the word wanted and as I scan down the page things just get worse and worse. There's a photo of me looking like death warmed over after Ace had cut me down from my beating, below that are the words dead or alive again in bold font and even below that in large font is the title "Island Destroyer." The true shocker is what is under that title, the supposed price for my head.

Hesitantly I look up to the two men standing before me unable to comprehend what I've just looked at. "Is this for real?" I stutter and both men nod their heads. Looking back down at the page I bite my lip, I don't even know what to think of this. "Two hundred and fifty million… that's more then I'd ever make in a life time." The words leave my mouth dry like cotton.

"It's an unheard of amount for a first time bounty," Marco says after clearing his throat. "The navy probably thinks it'll guarantee your capture, but after the up roar you've caused I can see their need to expedite things." He comments with a deep look of thought. My whole world seems to being coming down around me as I continue to stare at the page. Well Dragon did warn me about this. After a while of staring at the picture I finally notice something.

"My hair's still dark in this." I comment looking up at the two, they both stare at me a moment then Marco nods.

"I noticed that when you arrived, it's what threw me off to being with." He informs me.

"Yeah the light hair does make you look different."Ace adds then awkwardly continues, "Not in a bad way or anything." I give him a strange look for a moment before turning my attention back to Marco. Ace sighs dejectedly then goes back to the business of his skiff as I and Marco continue to talk.

"Do you think that'll throw off anyone who might come looking for me?" I question hopefully. Marco takes the wanted poster from me looking it over carefully.

"Possibly, for a short while but anyone with half a brain will be able to figure it out eventually. Maybe if you cut it? Yoi." he suggests and I unintentionally give him the dirtiest of looks.

"Do you know how long it took me to grow this out?" I question referring to my hair that is down the center of my back to just below my bar. He gives me a blank look then shrugs his shoulders.

"It's only hair, yoi." He remarks causing my scowl to deepen farther.

"Yeah no." I reply folding my arms over my chest. This gains a chuckle out of Marco before Ace rejoins us.

"So you ready to go see Pops?" he asks a bit to over enthusiastic. I stare at him a moment I knew this was coming and that I'd eventually have to if I want to stay here, but I can't help feeling a little intimidated. From what Ace has told me this man, Edward Newgate is a legend among legends, the lead contender in the race for the One Piece… whatever that is. Swallowing I glance at both men how watch me expectantly, looking back at my feet a smile spreads across my face. It's a nervous one but a smile none the less.

"Yeah let's go." I say as I look up still smiling, Ace smiles back just as brightly while Marco gives a stern nod.

Ace leads us away from the side of the ship, he seems overjoyed to be back where he belongs. It makes me think about where I belong, I wonder how bad my mother is flipping out and dad he's probably pissed as shit. Unfortunately as we round the corner of the super structure on to the main deck my thought are torn way from my home as I focus on the enormity of this ship. The deck is at least the size of a high school foot ball field, it would be easy enough to play a game on if not for the inlaid area towards the bow.

It's in this area that I notice a group of people all varying in height and appearance. There are at least fifteen give or take and as I study them I begin to recognize them from Ace's descriptions. They're the other fourteen commanders as we'll as, I can feel my jaw start drop at the sight of the colossal man seated at the center of the group and as we get closer to the group he only appeares to get larger. I don't even realize Ace had stopped until I collide with him to busy gawking like an idiot. Ace gives me a glance but I hardly notice him or the fact that Marco moves past us to stand next to his captain.

"Finally back eh Ace?" one of the men around us calls out, "What took you so long, get lost on your way back?" a chorus of laughter rose from the men around us but was quickly silence by Whitebeard himself. Ace flips, who I'm pretty sure is Thatch the bird before giving me a little shove so I'm standing in front of everyone. I stumble over my own feet still gawking at the massive man seated in front of me. How can anyone be that… that large?

Strangely as I continue to stare I notice that despite having the epithet of Whitebeard he has no beard to speak of, instead he sports a white mustache in the shape of an upward crest. Other than that he's dressed fairly normally I'd have to guess for a pirate. Black bandana, no shirt but there is a decorative jacket draped over his shoulders, another black sash wraps around his waist at the top of his cream pants and to finish the look off his pants are tucked in to a black set of boots. It's probably one of the more piraty out fits I've seen so far, at least compared to the knowledge I have of pirates back home.

"So you're the pipsqueak that's been causing a ruckus in my waters, hmmm?" His voice is booming and rather terrifying as he glares down at me. I'm frozen in place, I don't know how to answer that or even if I want to answer that. I have no idea what he'll do if I answer wrong. Ace you jerk I thought you said he was okay with this. "Well?" he demands impatiently, thankfully I find the will to nod even just a little to answer truthfully. Whitebeard falls into silence contemplating my answer and after a few moments he does something I don't' think anyone was expecting him to do.

Heavily he pushes himself from his seat and rises to stand at his full height before me. If I thought this man was huge before I can't even find the right words to describe him now. My head is craned all the way back as I try to look up at this tower of a man and yet strangely I haven't moved away and I don't exactly feel terrified. Instead I'm just is awe, stunned really. How does someone get to be his size? "Holy shit balls." I mumble to myself…

To Be Continued…