A/N: Holy crap I got a chapter out on time AND I'm already working on next weeks. I guess that's the advantage for you guys when I have crap internet, and there is nothing to distract me lol. Been playing Pokemon recently and I swear that Graveler is the most suicidal Pokemon. It uses nothing but self destruction. Which is also really annoying. Remember that I am still accepting OCs, but only for the doctor position and villains. I mainly need minor villains, so I can fill in some one on one fights. Though I'll let you all know when I really need them, but do send them anyways. Also please PM them to me. Enough of me rambling, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter 21

Infinity Ship, slowly moves into the dock. Cicero quickly checks the port side, making sure they are close enough. Seeing that they are, he nods his head and signals Ace to lower the anchor. The captain of the ship drops the heavy weight, into the calm waters. Ace sticks himself over the railing, as much as he can, hopeful that some of the water will hit him as the anchor splashes the water up. When some does he sighs in relief. Cicero feels the ship dip to the starboard side. He turns to Ace and yells. "You're suppose to lower it, not drop it!"

Ace looks over his shoulder. "If you were as hot as I am right now, you wouldn't give a damn." Fully turning around, he leans on the railing and slides to the ground, hiding from the sun. Since eating the Devil Fruit, he started to complain about how hot he is. He kept getting hotter and hotter, eventually staying outside during the night to sleep. Even then he didn't get much. "I hate this damned Devil Fruit."

"Maybe if you learn to control it," Cicero notices that a few parts of him are on fire. Ace pats them out "It might not be as bad."

"How though?" Ace threw his arms up in the air. "I have no idea on how to control this."

"That will come over time and practice." Andon walks up, handing Ace a cup of water.

"Thanks." Ace accepts the cup. Disgust comes across Ace's face when he takes a sip. "Eww, it's warm."

"Weird, I would've sworn that it was cold when I handed it to you."

Ace slowly watches as the water begins to boil. The other watch as steam comes out of the cup. "Wow," Cicero says in amazement. "We have our own living, breathing kettle."

After a minute the water eventually evaporates. "As awesome as that was, I need to control this." Placing the cup down, the fire user looks up to Andon. "How did you manage to control yours?"

Andon shrugs his shoulders. "Again, it just came over time. I practiced a few times a day. Though the first few days, you wouldn't imagine the amount of shoes I went through. Plus I'm a paramecia, and you're a logia."

"You can shoot with your toes?" Ace is surprised, as well as Cicero.

"Yeah," Andon looks down at his feet. "But it causes holes in my shoes. Hence the fingerless gloves."

"Oi!" Someone calls, getting their attention. They see Luffy and Alric on the other side lowering the plank. "You guys coming?"

Ace sighs, slowly getting up. He waves back, signalling that they are. "I think," Andon takes off his fedora, scratching his hair. "If you just practice focusing the heat in one area, like your hand, you might not be as hot."

Ace pulls his hat off his back and places it on his head. "Okay, let me try." He raises his hand in front of his face, focusing on it. Andon and Cicero watch closely, after a minute they look at each other and then back at Ace. Luffy and Alric watch from a distance, wondering what the trio is up to. Eventually Ace's hand bursts into flames. "Ha ha, I did it." Andon pats him on the back, quickly realizing the mistake he wipes the sweat off on his pants. With the heat all in his hand now, Ace feels much cooler. Sighing in relief, and breaking his concentration, the fire in his hand makes a small explosion. Andon and Cicero jump back, away from the fire. Ace immediately felt the heat rush back. "Sorry about that."

"No problem," Cicero speaks. "Just, be careful."

"Will do." Noticing Luffy and Alric are still waiting, they take off. "I'll practice some more later."

"Yeah, when your not trying to burn off our eyebrows." Cicero jokes.

Passing the mast, Ace grabs a large bag from behind it, "Here catch." Throwing it at Alric.

Catching it, he looks in the bag and notices it's full of money. He looks up at Ace, confused. "Why?"

"You want to get home and start a new life don't you?" Ace asks, causing Alric to nod his head. "Then you're gonna need money."

Smiling, Alric hangs the bag over his shoulder. "Thank you," He looks at the others. "All of you, thanks. This past week has been one of the best times of my life."

"Hey, no problem." Ace swings his arm over Alric's shoulder. "You're our friend." Alric looks at the others, all of them nodding their heads. "Now get off my ship."

Alric laughs, along with everyone else. Walking down the plank, they walk to solid ground. "Well, I guess this is where we say good bye."

"I like 'see you later' better."

Alric chuckles, "Alright then, see you guys later." He turns around and heads down the dock, looking for a ship to take him home.

The crew wave bye to him as he walks away. They will never forget Alric, and what he has given them to help along their journey. As they finish waving Luffy speaks up. "I'm hungry, lets get food."

"Shouldn't we get supplies first?" Cicero suggests.

Luffy waves him off, "We can do that later." Turning he walks down a street, looking for a bar to fill his appetite.

Ace follows immediately, with Cicero and Andon reluctantly following behind. Walking around town, they notice a lot of the people here look dangerous. All of them look ready to fight at the drop of a hat. It doesn't surprise them when they walk past an alley, watching a group of people fighting each other.

Hearing a crashing sound, they look to see a man laying on the ground, broken glass surrounds him. The doors to a bar swing open, a man in a stereotypical pirate hat and coat, a green mullet sticking out the back, walks out. His ears covered in piercings, rings on each finger, covered in blood. The man is laughing hysterically, as he walks up to the one on the ground. He starts to repeatedly kick the guy in the stomach. "To think you have a bounty of seven million!" he kicks the man again, this time causing a loud crack from breaking bones. "You're no threat. I, on the other hand, am a threat. I have a bounty of twelve million." He points to himself. "Everything I wear, is taken from pirates I have defeated." He points to his boots, "Everything from my steel toed boots," He points to his hat. "Up to my hat."

The man coughs up blood, spitting it on the ground. He chuckles. "Even your underwear?"

The man with the higher bounty gives the other man a deadly glare. He reaches his hand back. "Pliers!" He demands. A man with a rifle slung over his shoulder hands him pliers. Kneeling down in front of the injured man, he waves the tool in his face. "When I said that your gold tooth is mine," He grabs the man by the jaw, forcing it open. "I wasn't joking." Sticking the pliers in the mans mouth, he starts to pull. The man screams in pain, waving his arms and legs around, too weak to do anything. With one big pull, the stronger man, pulls the tooth out. Standing up he holds the tooth up in the air, for everyone to see. The group of people standing at the bars entrance start to cheer. He points to the man lying of the ground. "And that's why you don't mess with me." Pocketing the tooth, he faces the cheering people. "We're done here, lets head back to the ship." The man, who the crew assume to be the leader of the group, walks towards the docks. "Jacob, kill the weakling."

The man with the rifle stops, turns around, and walks to the injured man. Slinging his rifle off his shoulder, he points it at the man. The man puts his hand up and crawls backwards. Pleading for his life. As if he heard none of it, Jacob pulls the trigger. The bullet pierces the mans hand, hitting his head, causing blood, bone, and brain matter to spray the ground. Cicero looks away, while Andon and Ace watch. Luffy stares at the ground, seething with anger. Turning around, he takes a step forward before a hand grabs his shoulder, stopping him. "Let go Ace." Luffy nearly snaps at him.

"There is no point Luffy. We acted to late." Ace looks around at the crowd, watching as they go back to what they were doing beforehand. "Fighting that guy now, would not bring that man back to life."

"You should listen to him sonny." A voice says, catching the crews attention. The crew look an see an old man, hunched over with a cane supporting him, and a long grey beard. "You'd be wasting your life trying to fight him."

"Why is that?" Andon asks.

"He's the third strongest pirate captain here. His name is Kew Stamp 'The Collector', captain of the Collecting Pirates."

"Who's the strongest?"

"That would be Don Krieg, captain of the Krieg Pirates." The old man walks away, signalling for the crew to follow. "Though he is not here at the time. He gathered as many pirates he could and left to the Grand Line not too long ago. He had fifty ships to his name."

"So who's in between?" Ace asks.

"A new guy. Showed up not too long after Krieg left. Managed to take the down the previous second place holder with ease. His name is 'Metal Man' James Weston, captain of the Iron Pirates."

"I've heard of Krieg, and Kew sounds familiar, but I don't think I ever heard of James." Andon says, looking up to the sky, thinking.

"I've never heard of any of these guys." Ace looks to Andon. "How do you?"

"I lived on a marine base, remember. I've seen bounties of pirates every now and then. Krieg has been around for a while, Kew I've seen once, but his bounty was lower." Andon stops walking, hands on his hips, doing his best to remember if he heard of this James. "I think James must have got his bounty in the past two years. I don't remember him."

"Mr. Weston is currently the strongest person on this island, we don't even know if he could beat Krieg. There are rumors that he has the power of a Devil Fruit." The old man stops, glancing over his shoulder. "But he's not the only person to watch out for. He has a swordsman, who is extremely powerful." The old man turns and faces the crew. "I've met some powerful people in my time, even the Pirate King when he started his little adventure." This catches Luffy's attention, eyes going wide. "This woman though, is strong. She may not see it, and others might not, but James does and he keeps her on a short leash."

"You met the Pirate King?" Luffy asks, grabbing the old man by the shoulders. Excitement building up in him. "And who keeps a person on a leash?"

"Not literally you dumb ass." Ace slaps Luffy's head.

"Yes, but I didn't know him personally. And no I don't know the location of One Piece." The old man pokes Luffy with his cane, pushing him back. "I only met him briefly to patch him up from a fight, that's it."

"Wow, never knew I'd run into someone who met Gold Roger." Luffy says with stars in his eyes.

"He only had a small group of people like you guys." The old man looks over the crew. "Kinda remind me of them." He looks at Luffy, who is still fawning over the old man. "Except for that idiot."

Ace chuckles. "Yeah, he's obsessed with finding One Piece."

Luffy puffs out his chest and points his thumb at himself. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy and I'm gonna be the next King of the Pirates."

The old man laughs. "You and millions of others kid, good luck." The old man sticks his hand out. "The names Elijah."

Ace shakes his hand. "Portgas D. Ace, captain of the recently formed Spade Pirates."

"Pirates, huh?" He starts to stroke his beard. "Guess you'd have to be with him." Points to Luffy with his cane.

"We both wanted to become one. This is Cicero, our Navigator," Cicero waves. "Andon, our Sharpshooter." Andon tips his fedora. "And Luffy, my younger brother."

"So your not blood related?" Elijah points his cane at Luffy and Ace.

"No, but we grew up together."

"Interesting." Elijah mumbles to himself. "Well, I'm going home. Need a nap." He turns around and heads back down the street waving his cane goodbye.

"I think it's time we get some food." Ace turns down another street, followed by the others. Walking towards the center of the town, the crew starts to see more and more bars, and more and more people fighting each other. Each and every bar seem to be full with people. Eventually they find one with enough room for them. "I think this place will do." They sit down, and order their food. Not long after the doors swing open, Kew and his men walk into the bar. Luffy glares at him in anger. The crew get a better look at him, noticing he has a necklace with different items attached to it. One of which being a golden tooth. He has a scar running over the bridge of his nose, and tan skin. Behind him is Jacob, his skin almost as white as an albino, with matching white hair. There is also another man with a sword strapped to his back, the hilt is facing down. He has black skin and hair. And behind them is a group of men, all of them, even Jacob and the swordsman, wearing stereotypical pirate outfits.

Kew looks around the bar, eying every single person. He stops at Ace, looks at him for a bit longer than the others, then moves on. "Alright," He gets everybody in the bars attention. "Who is the new pirate crew in town?" He looks at Ace. "Is it you?

The waiter places the crews food on the table and leaves. Ace smirks at the Kew, taking a bite of the chicken leg. "Maybe."

"Don't play games with me boy," Kew cracks his knuckles. "Or I'll kill you."

"Just like you did to that guy earlier." Ace takes a sip of his drink. "Oh, wait, that wasn't you, that was your lackey."

Jacob eyes Ace, and moves his hand over a pistol. Andon catches this and adjusts himself, putting his hand on the arm rest, pointing a finger and a thumb at Jacob. The advantages of his Devil Fruit. Cicero reaches behind to his lower back, ready to unsheathe a spear. Kew laughs, not caring about Ace's insult. "Please boy, I could have easily killed that man. He just wasn't worth my time."

"Mm hmm, sure he wasn't." Ace continues to drink his rum, not believing Kew for a second.

Annoyed that Ace doesn't believe him. "Listen here boy, I own this town!"

"Do you?" A voice from outside asks. Kew's group look behind them and immediately they all move out of the way. Behind them is a young man about the same age as Ace, he is tall, an very lean. Wearing a baggy grey shirt and pants. A sword hilt hangs from a rope he uses as a belt, but the hilt is missing the blade. He has a very relaxing nature about him, but his pale silver eyes have this sadistic look in them.

Kew looks behind and sees the man. He balls his hand into a fist to stop himself from being nervous in front of them man and his own crew. Also to prepare for any fight that could happen. "I will, once I figure out how to get past your Devil Fruit, James."

Looking behind James, Cicero sees a very tall and muscular male. He can't even see the mans shoulders. The other person Cicero can see is a woman, with a large sword on her back and a lot of knives strapped on her body. She has short wild black hair, with a ponytail. Under her left eye there are two fresh scars. She wears a necklace of animal teeth. She is wearing tribal clothing, with some armor. Shoulder pad on the left, down to her elbow. Her shirt is laced in the middle, revealing a bit of cleavage, and doesn't cover her stomach, revealing multiple scars. Her shorts have a loin cloth attached to it, adding to the tribal look. With leg wrappings around her knees, with shin guards below. Looking into her deep brown eyes, Cicero sees darkness. When she looks over at Cicero, their eyes meet. Wanting to look away Cicero finds that he can't, fearing that if he looks away first, she might kill him for disrespect. For what seems like forever, was only a few seconds, then she looks away.

James chuckles at Kew. "I'd like to see you try." Hearing knuckles cracks, James looks behind at the woman. "Nevi, calm down. No need to fight him."

"Why not?" Nevi snaps. "Just give me one minute with him, he'll be dead. It's been to long since I last fought someone. And he's the only one who can put up any kind of challenge, as shitty as he is."

"Not now." James commands.

"One day I will kill you." Nevi storms off.

"Well, it was nice chatting with you." James leaves following the angry woman. "Nevi!"

Kew stands in the middle of the bar, pissed. "Stupid woman calling me weak." Grabbing a chair he throws it across the room. "Back to the ship!" Kew stomps out of the bar, his men following him.

"That was interesting." Ace continues to eat his food.

"Did any of you guys look in that woman's eyes?" Cicero asks, shaking a bit.

"Yeah, and Elijah was right. She is a monster." Ace takes another bite. "Lets finish this and go get our supplies."

Later during the night a group of six people, dressed in pirate gear, stumble down the street with beer bottles in their hands. One of them walks in front of the others, telling them something, they all burst into laughter. A person sits on a roof top, shielded by the darkness, twirling a knife in their hand, watching the drunken men. One of the drunken men points down an alley and they all turn down it. The person stands up following the men, walking along the roof tops. Once the drunks are deep enough in the alley, the stranger jumps down, cutting them off. The drunken men jump back in surprise, wondering what just happened was for real or just their imagination. Looking closely they see a figure standing in the dark. As the figure walks closer, they see it's Nevi. Fear enters their faces and they all turn to run, only to bump into a metal wall blocking their path. One of the men turn around only to be met with a knife being dug into his face. Pulling out another knife, Nevi jabs it in another mans neck. Throwing him out of the way, she pulls out another knife ready to kill the rest. On the other side of the wall is James leaning nonchalantly against it, listening to the men scream for their lives. A smile slowly creeping up on his face.

A/N: James Weston belongs to Raimaru13, and Nevi belongs to my friend Josh. Thanks guys for the characters. Well I hoped you guys enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review and tell me what you think. Thanks for reading.