Alex was in a panic, she couldn't get out of the stupid old geezer's grip. Whitebeard's gaze drifted out to the empty void of sea in front of them, ignoring Marco's irritated lecture about going to sleep.

The girl tried to twist in his hold to bite him, but her body refused to move, it ached and shook from fear. She wished it would stop, Alex didn't want to show how absolutely terrified she was feeling, her face was drawn back into a wide one-eyed stare.

"How much longer until the volcano?" Haruta whined, they were leant over the barrier, head inches from the bubble, which concerned Alex a great deal.

"Soon I expect...We'll be at the volcanic plateau soon, then you'll be complaining about it being too hot." Namur answered, he yawned from where he was sat, the Fishman was perched right next to Haruta on the wooden railing.

"Haruta get away from there, yoi" Marco reprimanded, the red-head looked back in slight confusion.

"Get away from what?"

Marco sighed, he looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. "The fucking barrier, yoi!"

"No need to shout geez Marco" They said with a slight frown, but they did as they were told, dropping back onto the deck from the tall barrier they'd been clinging to.

The blonde girl was glad Haruta was away from there, she didn't want her other friend being eaten by another fish. Alex scowled, until what the ginger had asked about sank in. Volcano? VOLCANO! WE'RE GOING TO A VOLCANO!

The blonde girl panicked as she tried even harder to fight her way out of the old geezer's grip, all the kid actually managed to muster was a weak kick and some pathetic flailing arms.

"VOL-cano!" She choked out, her voice was hoarse causing her to cough. Her chest was tight, very uncomfortable to breathe properly, which made Alex hiss slightly in pain.

Whitebeard looked down at Alex quietly and without expression, his golden eyes seemed glazed over and dull, the dark circles made the wrinkles around his eyes deeper and more noticeable. Exhausted, the man barely registered the girl's bared teeth which was a weak attempt at hiding her fear with anger.

Alexandra fought her way up into a sitting position, huffing heavily with painful gasps of air. Her eye was fixated on the Yonko's face, watching him fearfully for any signs of mal-intent. The old man's face was blank, even though he was staring straight at her, she got the impression that he wasn't really looking at her, rather he was staring into space without anything going on in his head.

"Anyway you guys should head back to bed, yoi" Marco suggested, Alex couldn't see him from where she was being held, but he sounded close by.

"No way! I wanna stay up until we get to Fishman Island!" Haruta protested, while Namur groaned at them "Why can't we just go to bed?"

"I wanna see Fishman Island!"

"You've seen it..."

"Not going down I haven't! I was in bed last time and missed it!"

"You were there when we surfaced... it's the same thing"

"Namur why do you have to be so boring!"

Namur grumbled, he didn't answer, all Alex heard was a deep sigh, which was followed by a loud yawn.

"Haruta stop being a pain in the ass and go to bed, yoi" The dumb bird snapped at the ginger impatiently, however Haruta just whined, she could hear them muttering grumpily about Marco being stupid.

The old man suddenly groaned, his voice was rough and his chest that Alex was being pinned against rumbled as he growled "I hate this fuckin' part..."

"Is it getting hot? I hadn't noticed to be honest, yoi" Marco replied, the girl admittedly hadn't noticed the temperature change either, the atmosphere was getting warmer and Whitebeard had hunched over with a irritated grimace curving at his lips.

The next thing Alex knew was that she'd been shoved uncomfortably under his arm. She miserably tried to pull herself out of his vice of an arm, but all it did was make her cough painfully, her hands went to her chest or at least tried to, but the old geezer had her limbs pinned to her sides.

The blonde kid saw the Yonko's coat fall from his shoulders as he shrugged it off, it made a bit of noise as it hit the deck. The coat must have been pretty heavy to cause it to make a thump. Alex was pulled back up, being tossed towards his chest again, the deep scar across his sternum was thrust into her view again.

"It doesn't even feel that hot yet" Haruta said puzzled by the old man's behaviour.

"You know pops can't stand the heat, yoi"

"Yeah but Haru has a point, it's not really that bad" Namur pointed out, he still had an exhausted drawl in his tone.

"It's his Devil Fruit, it makes his heart pump his blood around faster than a normal person's, so he always feels warm... it's great for cold weather, not so good for a slightly raised temperature, yoi" Marco explained as it seemed the Yonko was too busy grumbling and swearing to answer. Also probably far too tired to be bothered to give a reason anyway.

"L-et go" Alex wheezed, desperately attempting to push herself out of Whitebeard's hold. She dug her claws into his skin, still she got no reaction, the girl forced herself to twist her head up and towards the blond man's muscular bicep, she lunged with her teeth bared, biting him as hard as she could muster.

"This kid is biting me again..." Whitebeard mumbled, frowning warily, simply sighing too tired to give a damn, it didn't exactly hurt.

"Is she biting you again?" Haruta snorted, laughing obnoxiously loud. Namur joined in, maybe a little quieter but still very much laughing his butt off. The bird sneezed in a bad attempt at hiding his chuckling.

"The fuck is wrong with this brat?" The old geezer questioned, he dragged the kid off his arm without much effort, holding her out helplessly by the back of her shirt, legs dangling in the air she hissed weakly, sharp teeth bared.

"Lemme go!" Alex yelled, or rather made an attempt at a tough guy demand, but it came out sounding more whiny and higher than she was hoping.

Whitebeard looked unimpressed, staring at her with a half-lidded scowl, Alex was expecting him to throw her out of the bubble to drown with the huge fish. Her biting plan hadn't really gone as smoothly as she had hoped... which let's be real wasn't a plan at all and more of a rage driven impulsion.

The Yonko rolled his golden eyes seemingly more aspirated with the girl's idiotic and childish behaviour, hardly angry. He pushed out a tired breath, too exhausted and hot to even say anything. Sweat was running down his face, he wiped his brow with his spare hand, sweeping droplets of salty water from his forehead. His face had gone bright red, the man dragged himself over to the barrier irritably and then to Alex's utter shock dunked his head straight out of the bubble. After a moment he pulled back, hair and face dripping with water.

"That did shit... kids make sure my tombstone says I died in battle and not from heat stroke." Whitebeard said, he slid down onto the deck, back pressed against the railing, he smirked lightly when he saw Marco, Haruta and Namur's expressions. All three of them had faces ranging from done to disgusted.

"Pop you're so over dramatic... it's hardly that hot, you're acting like you've just been boiled alive in a volcano..." Namur said completely done with the old geezer's situation, looked about ready to pass out asleep on his feet.

"Probably because dad should be in bed asleep and he can't cope with anything else right now, yoi" Marco replied deadpan.

Haruta just looked like they want to throttle the Yonko, violently...

"I'm fine... you brats can't take a bloody joke..." Whitebeard mumbled, finally letting Alex go, however she didn't get far, being dumped on his knee casually his huge hand resting on her back, she was far too weak to get him off.

"Could of fooled me, yoi"

"Get off!" Alex snapped uselessly, frustrated with her body, still it ached painfully. She tried to shove the man's hand off, but didn't even manage to budge it even a bit.

"Will ya calm down?" The blond man said jabbing the girl in the back, she let out sharp inhale, clearly it having hurt and he immediately withdrew his hand as his he'd been stung.

Alexandra curled up, her back was sore anyway, having the stupid old man pointing and prodding wasn't pleasant, her whole body felt like it was on fire, small movements hurt. All she wanted to do was hide somewhere out of the way, away from Whitebeard and Marco, with her friends, safe and sound.

"Pops what did you do?" Namur asked concerned over Alex, she looked sicker again, not as sick as before but not great.

"Sorry kid... ya alright?" A voice echoed faintly, the world seemed to be getting darker and harder to breathe, the air was hot, boiling, it made her insides churn. The fowl scent of sulphur filled her nose making her gag, it smelt like someone had shoved a piece of coal up her nostrils.

"HEY THE VOLCANO PLACE!" Haruta shrill shout rang in the young girl's head, they sounded excited, Alex faintly registered the ginger kid bouncing on the spot.

"Haru, get away from there you dumbass!" Namur called after them, the vibrations in the air were intense, the rumblings of the earth's heartbeat shook her brain. Everything was too loud, the air was too thin, clogged with the smells of acidic gases from the volcanic plateau.

She was aware that she had been handed over to someone else, though her vision was too blurred to figure out who. Her heart was pumping unsteadily, her blood was bubbling or that's what it felt like. Alex was losing consciousness, her sick, unrecovered body unable to deal with the changes to the atmosphere or lack of one. The oxygen was old now, the bubble wasn't enough, the air was too thick with other elements. The temperature change had been the last straw, her brain had shut off , trying to healing itself without the bother of maintaining a conscious mind.

Marco had Cat dumped on him which he did not appreciate, her body hung limply in his arms, her breathing was rough and unsteady, the girl had seemly passed out. He checked her over briefly, checking her pulse which seemed relatively normal, maybe a little faster than it should have been, however the kid was still ill, so it was to be expected. Also Tamatha had found out that the girl had a heart arrhythmia, Brugada, which caused Cat to have a off beat and irregular heart rate, that was the main reason she'd been so sick in the first place. Dehydration and fever were what had triggered the severe aftermath, it had almost caused her death.

Pops looked a bit concerned, what did he expect him to do? He was a doctor in training not a magical healing machine, though it was probably better that Pops wasn't holding her anymore, he was a too little rough. Not that he meant to be, or at least he'd been trying to be careful this time.

Admittedly, the Yonko had a bit of a bad habit of grabbing people by whatever was closest at the time, be that by an arm, their clothing or their leg, before brutally shoving them into a crushing 'hug'. He just didn't care, it's not like he ever hurt anyone, but Marco and his siblings never enjoyed the experience. The phoenix knew it was just their old man's way of showing affection, even if it was the rough kind. Though it was only a select few that actually got this treatment, it was the ones Pops had personally taken a liking to, the ones he decided he wanted on the crew, rather than the ones that chose to join, the ones that got the 'not question' "Become my child".

Cat had the unfortunate honour of being one such person, as soon as she had bitten him and told him to shove it multiple times, Pops had decided that she was his kid. There was no choice, whether she wanted to or not, she was Whitebeard's daughter now.

Though Marco found the girl's behaviour a little odd, she was distrustful and angry, yet when Namur had gotten eaten, she had been just as distressed as Haruta. Not to mention she seemed to have a particular issue with Pops, it's something the blond immediately picked up on.

She'd been relatively calm when Marco was talking to her, while she was most definitely rude, she hadn't really reacted that badly, there'd been hostility there, sure, which was understandable, she didn't know him. But she was willing to converse with him, even if it was reluctant, then when she had finally noticed Pops, that's when she had gotten overly defensive and snappy, in fact Cat had backed right off, he'd seen genuine fear for a second, before she had hidden it under her loud angry facade.

While Marco knew full well that Pops was a big scary Yonko, her reaction was quite over the top. The girl went straight into yelling, baring her teeth and being extremely aggressive, however under all that the young doctor could see her visibly shaking and her eye had betrayed her, it was filled with a absolute terror.

It was all rather strange...

Marco reassured him with a tired sigh "She's fine, I think she's just exhausted from all the excitement, yoi"

Pops grunted looking away, trying to hide a look of relief, though it was executed poorly. He was normally very good at hiding his emotions or at the very least acting aloof and grumpy. Marco had learnt many years ago that this attitude was more of a defensive habit than a conscience decision, despite everything and for all of Pops' laughing and joking, seemly having little to no care for the most part.

The Yonko in all reality was very haunted, he may not have acted like it, but his old crew had left quite a few mental scars behind. Things most people may not even notice or understand as signs, yet Marco had been around a long time, he'd been there when Pops had first left the Rocks. What he remembered was a very distrustful, very defensive and protective man, trying very hard to keep a strong facade up, because he had a small 7 year boy to care for.

Nobody in their family would even recognise the man from back then.

And really it was for the best.

While Marco had this turning over in his head Haruta was staring excitedly at the scene before them, the ship was lit up in reddish hues from the volcanos that surrounded them, they rumbled loudly, crashing, causing the water outside to bubble with heat. Soon the red-head was drenched in sweat, no longer smiling, like Namur had predicted, Haruta began to whine. "This sucks!" The ginger complained joining in with their father, who was in currently in the process of melting into the deck. They flopped down against the irritated, tired and sweating man, he managed a sideways glance before pushing Haruta away from him.

"Don't lean on me brat! I'm drenched in sweat." Pops snapped at his kid, they retorted with a angry "I don't care! You're comfy!"

"I'm fucking hot! I don't need ya pressed against me!"

Namur groaned exchanging an aspirated look with Marco, he looked as tired Namur felt, he wished he could take off to bed. Like hell he could leave Marco to deal with both Haruta and Pops on his own, why did Namur have to be such a caring brother?

Just then, surprising everyone present, the Yonko leapt to his feet, though the movement was a lot louder, lacking the normally fluidity it would have had. The man turned his gaze out into the depths, deep, dark eyes narrowed.

"Marco we've got company" The hot, sweaty, grouchy man having disappeared in an instant, the heat still clearly bothering him, but he had decided ignore it. Haruta on the other hand had gotten up, they definitely looked interested, but were too hot and bothered to do anything. Which was good, they'd just get under the adults feet, they liked nothing better than fighting. Namur had the unfortunate job of making sure they didn't get themselves killed doing dumb shit, like attacking vice-captains or high ranking Marines.

"Namur look after Cat, yoi" Marco dumped Alex on him, he almost fell backwards, because he hadn't been expecting the short, skinny girl to weigh as much as she did. He was lucky that he was a Fishman man, with inhuman strength, seeing as she would have crushed a normal person under all that weight.

He didn't have much time to contemplate as he heard cannon fire in the distance, shoving Alex over his shoulder he ran over to Haruta, grabbing them by the arm he pulled them away from the railing and towards the relative safety of the ship's cabins. They didn't complain, following after him after a moment feet dragging from heat exhaustion, letting his sibling go, Namur led the way down towards the apprentice cabin.

Newgate jumped into the air, catching a cannonball that had been flying towards his ship in his hands, before swiftly lobbing it back. He wasn't keen on using his Devil Fruit under the water, he had to have a lot of self control and while he was so tired it was very hard to concentrate. So that was not happening.

"What kind of idiot thinks it's a good idea to pick a fight in the middle of a place full of volcanos, yoi!?" Marco yelled, he was stood on the barrier, wings flared out ready to block another cannonball.

"A stupid little rookie brat from the looks of it..." Whitebeard sighed, pointing towards a ship on the other side of the volcano they were passing. The vessel was quite large, dark sandy swirls were painted on the haul, his flag had a crocodile skull printed on it. The ship was being pulled by a big, rather ugly looking pufferfish, it looked as though it was having trouble swimming, let alone trying to drag a vessel almost as big as it. A grinning menace of a punk was staring back at him, Newgate didn't have the patience for this.

"I recognise their flag... pretty sure that's the up and coming rookie 'Sir Crocodile', he's been quite the problem in paradise. I heard that he's a candidate for the warlord position, yoi"

"Tch! So Croco-brat is probably after my head then?" The Yonko sneered, he really couldn't care less who the brat was, all he knew was he was a rather annoying little bug, that was putting his family in unnecessary danger.

"WHITEBEARD! THIS SEA WILL BE YOUR GRAVE" Croco-brat yelled at him, Newgate rolled his tired eyes, ignoring the brat. He couldn't be bothered to play along.

"Captain what do you want us to do?!" Whitey shouted, jogging over to them, she was followed by Vista and Rakuyo.

"Keep us on course, the Sea King is doing his job well enough, we have the speed advantage. That fish of theirs ain't nothing special, we should be able to out run them." The pirate captain answered, turning back to the Croco-brat who's ship was slowly encroaching on them. "Whitey you concentrate on navigating us towards the trench, the rest of us will defend Moby"

"You got it!" His daughter ran off back to the helm, leaving him and his sons knocking away cannonballs, Newgate could tell that Croco-brat was more focused on attacking them then directing his crew around the volcanos, leaving their ship in shambles. It was honestly a miracle they'd been able to even descend this far, considering how bad their team work was.

Vista sliced a cannonball in half, however the water currents were against them and one half hit the deck, causing Rakuyo to swear bloody murder, Obsidian, his living ball and chain decided it was a good time to snack on the remains of the projectile. "Sid! NOT NOW!" Marco dashed in front of his brother as another shot was fired, he was hit in the stomach, just managing to stop it from flying into Raku.

"Raku! Look what you're doing, yoi" The phoenix squawked at him, the dreadlocked man retorted "It's Sid's fault! He thinks it's snack time!"

Vista ran over shoving both his brothers down as another cannonball flew over their heads, though it was caught by Whitebeard just as it was about to crash into the middle mast.

Newgate should just eat his own fucking words, his kids were no better half the time, well at least they were looking out for one another while arguing. Those other fools were just running around trying not to die under a idiotic captain like Croco-brat. Why was he so fond of stupid, lovable morons like his sons?

"Oi! You three idiots! Get your shit together! Stop arguing and get ya asses into gear!" The Yonko furiously scolded his trio of stupid sons, in a scramble, they went back to protecting their ship without so much as a word, none wanting to piss off their father more.

The ship turned sharply, the sea king seemed distressed, which in Newgate's experience meant only one thing...

A volcano was about to abrupt.

Getting a sea king to pull them wasn't just for the convenience of speed, but rather for it's instincts. They had a sixth sense for these sorts of things, more so then a human ever could have.

"Boys ignore them! Hang on to somethin'!" The captain warned, Vista, Raku and Marco shouted a positive, following his orders.

On the other side, Croco-brat and his crew were laughing "WHAT'S THIS, A YONKO IS RUNNING OFF WITH HIS TAIL BETWEEN HIS LEGS" The other captain leered, Whitebeard did grin then, he pointed towards the volcano they were passing, just as it exploded, he only caught a split second of horror on his oppositions face before they were swallowed up by black watery smoke.

"What a fool..." Newgate turned his attention towards the gaping crevice before them as they dropped down towards their final destination: Fishman Island.

He could finally go to sleep.