Moby Dick's New Residents Chapter 7: Marco's Shitty Day, an one piece fanfic

Author notes:

I posted new Fic called Shanks's Choice (I promised it back in September), check it out and share your thoughts ^^.

Thank you all that encouraged me to continue writing, your words helped a lot in keeping me going and we also hit the mark of 200 followers *YAY* *giggle and blush deeply*

I hope you all have a great year, enjoy yourself to the fullest!

The chapter was beta'd by the wonderful Gerbilfrind who helped me a lot with grammar and paraphrasing and general ideas. I really enjoy working with her (*Ace's deep bow*)

Warnings:

English is my fourth language. Warning may change in the future.

To Dear Guest:

Thank you for your review! I have no intention of abandoning this story, and your words are the motivation that sometimes I need.

I hope your broken heart was mended by this chapter ^^.

Let me know! XP

Hope you enjoy,

See notes at the END, IMPORTANT please.

Marco felt slight tremble run down his spine while finally boarding the Moby Dick.

Home, sweet home.

He was the first to climb followed by Ace, leaving his subordinates to put everything in order before following them.

His senses were screaming at him to take Ace and run, as far away as possible.

Marco, who usually never ignored his senses, committed a grave mistake, an unforgivable one and ignored them without a second thought.

In the minutes, days, weeks and months to come, he would think longly to this moment and wish (always beating himself for not) he chose differently.

In that moment Marco longed for hot shower, hot meal and his bed, and most importantly having at least thirty people between him and Ace.

He loved Ace, he really did, and after this voyage he even understood him better, he was almost sure that Ace trusted him more and felt closer to him too. But babysitting a depressed teenager was not something he ever wanted to repeat, it was actually in the list of things to never experience again.

He chalked up the foreboding feeling his senses were warning him from to the welcoming they were surely to receive soon on the Moby Dick.

Especially when the welcoming committee was run by Thatch and Haruta (they created it and voluntary ran it to his unfortunate pain and many headaches).

Those two terrors, and whoever helped them, if things get out of control (like the last few times) or if any damage happened to the ship, well, there were enough duties (bathroom cleaning, accounting, night watch and paperwork. More like chores for the naughty children, F**king seriously!) to go around, they better not piss him off too much.

Even though he knew what was awaiting for them, he decided to play along with whatever those brothers and sisters of his had planned and decided against warning Ace and to let them have their fun for a bit.

He readied himself, he was a seasoned pirate and had quite the experience with the language of pranks and mischievousness that Thatch and Haruta spoke, he might even get unwind a bit in the processes and enjoy the face of dumbfounded Ace.

The only problem with his plan was…

The problem was that he, Marco the first mate of the strongest crew in the world, was almost as dumbfounded as Ace.

Really!

He had imagined a lot of things, a lot of ways that the crew would try to welcome them back to the Moby Dick (especially, to try to cheer up the depressed Ace), from a full blown party to a very elaborate prank, like ignoring them (which was the last prank they tried on Namur, they had the whole crew pretend that he never left and how they were able to have the whole crew agree to play along with the idea was beyond Marco), or when they had one of the new recruits after arriving back from his first voyage convinced that he should run bare chested around the deck of the Moby Dick five times while hitting his chest and singing "Do what you want, 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate! Yar har, fiddle di dee, Being a pirate is all-right with me, being a Whitebeard pirate is the dream, Do what you want 'cause a pirate is free, You are a pirate! Yo Ho, ahoy and avast, Being a Whitebeard pirate is really badass!..."

It was an amusing sight the first time. Then they were able to convince other new recruits that it was a rite of passage to the crew, that was, until Marco had to put his foot down. None of them were blessed with any singing voice, to put it bluntly their singing voice was making his ears bleed, he had needed to use armored Haki in his ears for God sake.

Thatch was so upset with him for being a party pooper and destroying all the fun (as Thatch so eloquently described) that he didn't speak to Marco for whole two glorious days, pity, more would have been better…

So nothing should have surprised him, he was an experienced pirate. For God sake, he was the first mate to strongest crew in the world (Yes, he knew he was repeating himself).

He definitely didn't expect this.

He didn't even know what this was.

Thatch and Haruta were sitting on the floor, no, they were kneeling in the ship wooden floor with incredibly white faces, was that makeup on their faces? Haruta was willing to put on makeup?

Thatch had done worse things, nothing he could do would ever surprise Marco...

But…

But where in the hell they found this much white powder.

Izo?

Marco moved his sight from the two ridiculous figures to search his surroundings.

He heard several gasps, some of awe and some of alarm, and many curses coming from behind him. The small crew of their small ship was all present behind him, Ace had come to stand beside him blinking his eyes and closing and opening his mouth several times, no sound coming out.

They were all like Marco, trying to understand the scene before them.

Marco finally spotted what he was looking for.

Izo was also on deck with a white kimono and white makeup on his face (that wasn't unusual) holding a candle in both hands. What was unusual (impossible really!) was that he gave up his powder to the use...what the heck?

How many people were here?

Marco began to count, white faces, no white people and it was more than half the crew.

Shit, wasn't that Fossa standing there? Someone had even painted the little hair he had and his almost bald head white.

Marco raised an eyebrow trying to catch his eyes, to ask him what the hell? But Fossa was staring stubbornly at the wooden floor (Blackmailed? Haruta?).

Everything was white, the flowers were also white... some were using their white bed linens to cover themselves or some part of their bodies.

The white make up on the face, kept coming back to Marco's mind, it kept nagging at him. It seemed something he should know, something obvious, all the white….

No way it was a powder, Izo would not agree to part from his expensive special powder and even if by some miracle he actually agreed, he most definitely did not have the quantity to put it on all of these people, it can only be Ouuffttt.. flour.

Damn you Thatch, Marco felt a headache arrive in fullforce and his right eye began twitch. He thought he made it quite clear that flour was never to be used in any kind of prank after the last haunted ship prank they pulled (apparently he did not make that clear enough, a mistake he intended to swiftly and unmercifully correct).

Dammit! Marco cursed inwardly, they would have to replenish their food stocks again and he had just checked all the supplies two weeks ago, f**ck...

Marco knew exactly who was going to be responsible for this duty, yes, he knew the best man for such a complex and tiring task.

Marco sighed and took deep breaths, trying to calm his fraying nerves.

What the hell was the smell in the air?

Some of the crew were holding sticks of burning incense in their hands that smelled like strawberry and tangerine and if his nose was not mistaking a little bit of mango sorbet, what in the seven seas were they planning..

Marco got back to eyeing the bane of his existence.

They were wearing a white ceremonial robes embroidered in gold (Thatch was not wearing his chief attire!), where the heck did they find those clothes? Did Izo sew this in less than week, was it real threads of gold, seemed like it...

What the heck was this horror show, were they trying to make a play of some kind? How was that supposed to be a prank?

Well, Marco, Ace and his subordinates were dumbfoundedly waiting for the act to start.. or was their purpose to have them became dumbfounded...then they had succeeded...

And then it began...

More white outfitted people came holding candles or white flowers, wearing bed linens as robes for some reason. Two were holding a picture, they all stood behind the kneeling Thatch and Haruta in some kind of formation, HUH.

Ace's wanted poster.

Ac's wanted poster framed.

What the heck...

Behind Marco, Lacus jumped up and down hooting amidst some colorful cursing, he had won! Ace's bounty had increased by 275 million Beli exactly like Lacus betted, he had the devil's luck, Marco raised his eyebrow in appreciation.

The framed poster had flowers stuck to it, and pink hearts drawn on it, Marco grimaced, that shade of pink was hurting his eyes, Marco would bet he knew who chose it. Even the poor blue smileys on Ace's orange hat had not been spared.

He was not the only one to notice the 'art', he heard Ace murmur uncomprehendingly in great dismay while clutching the hat on his back protectively, "frowny and smiley?"

Marco felt a pained pang looking at the frowning and smiling faces with pinky hearts instead of eyes.

Only Jozu was in his usual attire (no white, thank goodness) standing a bit far from the group but he looked real tense… What was going on, Marco narrowed his eyes, Jozu was tense like this only in dang...

Boom…

There was a drum beat, and no it wasn't his twitching eye or his throbbing head. Someone was actually beating on some empty barrels or something of the kind.

"Oh, bless this ship, our beloved god," Thatch and Haruta were chanting loudly and swaying their bodies with beat.

"Oh, Our beloved god," everyone else had their hands up as if praying and were repeating after them with what supposed to be a chant or a song, they were utterly awful, Marco was only able to comprehend the gibberish being chanted because the two ringleaders said it first.

So, it was a play of some kind… joy.

Marco wanted to rub his head, or bang it into a convenient hard surface, preferably something that would knock him unconscious for a long time.

Ace seemed to wake up from his daze when the chanting begun, he titled his head in Marco's direction and whispered "Are we on the right ship?" his voice had underlying hope to that they had just made a wrong turn or misread something.

Marco felt bad about crushing Ace's desperate hopes, "Unfortunately we are," he murmured back, rubbing his head (he would forgo the banging option for now, a mature adult needed to be present).

"Oh," was Ace's answer, and he got back to watching the horror show with confused but interested look, still clutching his hat with one hand, Marco noted.

"Oh, our dear lord protect us from the cannonballs,

Oh our beloved god,

Make it rain mountains of gold,

We ask for forgiveness for any grievance,

And promise to sacrifice to your stomach, meats and sake of all kinds,

Oh, God Ace we apologize for poking you and drawing on your face," they all chanted together.

It was what, guessed Marco, was supposed to be the climax of the show. Those holding candles and flowers did some kind of strange dance, putting their hands high up and jumping around, going in circle around Ace's picture.

"Forgive us for these grievances.. you are so merciful... "

Ace blinked several times, rubbing his eyes and ears, when the chant ended and shouts with all kind of demands were shouted in his direction.

"God Ace, Please bless us with volcanoes of gold.."

"Your grace you should have told us that you needed so much meat because you wanted to inflate into a balloon to protect us.."

"That you eat so much only for our sake, such a noble sacrifice.."

"We apologize for any sin please forgive us, the sinners of cake eaters…."

"From now on we are meat eaters only."

Thatch and Haruta shared a look and seemed like they couldn't hold it in any more. Looking at Ace's face and seeing the confused look tinted with horror on Ace up close, they tumbled to the ground laughing hysterically, dusting the wooden deck with white, Marco shook his head, someone needed to clean all of this shit...and he had several volunteers in mind...

His subordinates behind them were whispering and murmuring to each other in their confusion, trying to make some kind of sense out of what just happened, Marco could only hear some of what they were saying with all the ruckus around them.

"Are they shouting at Ace demanding gold?"

"Yeah, apparently…."

"I think so.."

"Because of his bounty increase?"

"I don't think so, they did nothing like that when mine was increased, but then again my increase wasn't that impressive..."

"They made me buy drinks for everyone…."

"I don't want my bounty to increase if that's what will they do to me..."

"No, it's a rite of passage of some sort..."

"I thought it was singing bare chested around the Moby."

"What? We didn't do something like that.."

"What? We have to do something like that..."

Marco patience disappeared when he looked at the still laughing crowd and he demanded coolly.

"Ok, you had your fun, yoi. Someone want to explain?"

Everyone around him (that was smart enough to stop laughing hearing that tone of voice, and he said smart that didn't include the rolling morons in front of them.. ) was either shaking their heads or shrugging, it was one of two things Marco concluded.

1. Too complicated to explain or something that no one wanted to explain for variety of reasons.

2. Nobody actually knew, and they were going along with whatever Thatch and Haruta wanted because why the hell not (it was easier from the alternative, trying to understand how their minds actually worked).

Marco had feeling it was the later.

"To think I missed this place," Marco muttered under his breath, rubbing his aching head. He tilted his head to Ace's direction and asked hopefully, "Ace, how about you and I sail to Paradise?"

Ace didn't answer him, he was busy trying to rescue himself from the laughing octopus (Thatch) clinging to his legs, demanding golden balls in exchange for all the meat he gave him...

Marco was considering his options when Whitebeard bellowed calling for his returning sons.

Marco grabbed Ace by the neck, kicked the octopus and dragged Ace over to their father's chair, while they were moving Marco accidentally stepped on the hair of the sprawled octopus, which then earned Marco an indignant yell from it.

Marco let go of Ace's neck and turned with smirk on his face and a mocking raised eyebrow, which made Thatch splutter with anger, especially with everyone laughing and snickering around him.

Marco shook his head and continued to the direction of their father's chair, Ace followed behind Marco a little bit dazed. Ace was walking backwards, looking at the scene behind him trying to understand what the whole thing was about, were they laughing at him or trying to get him to laugh with them on something? Either way what the hell was this supposed to be?

Marco stopped abruptly and Ace collided into his back and fell face down right onto the deck, Marco heard him cursing but didn't turn to check on him, instead he was staring at ...

"Jozu, please tell me that I am seeing things," Marco begged of Jozu quietly, Jozu had stopped walking when Marco did, he was following them silently.

"Unfortunately no."

That was what had made him so tense.

F**cking shit.

"What is he doing here?" Marco asked from behind gritted teeth, the good mood of messing with Thatch had long disappeared.

Jozu looked deliberately at Ace behind him who had already got comfortable on the floor and was still eyeing the scene behind him with bewilderment. Both Izo and Haruta were sitting in front of him asking if his grace was alright or needed some meat to replenish his strength.

Izo, really?

Marco cursed under his breath, he should have trusted his gut feeling and abandoned the ship, shit...

"I should have taken Ace and gone to Paradise, dammit," muttered Marco to himself, thinking it wasn't yet too late for such venture. He turned intending to do just that when he collided with the now standing Ace, who took two steps back barely keeping his balance.

"What the hell Marco?" Ace asked in confusion. With no reply forthcoming, he looked at what made Marco's eye twitch so visibly.

"Shanks," Ace called happily, surprise evident on his face and the tone of his voice. He sidestepped Marco, who was able at the last moment to stop his hand from reaching out and grabbing Ace, and then dragging him far away from here for Ace's own sake.

Marco pushed down the the feelings of rage and worry and turned with a heavy heart to face the new dangerous annoyance of the day with blank and bored face.

Red Hair, who was sitting with empty bottles of sake around him and one in his hand and was eyeing everything with mirth and laughter in his eyes, stood up and welcomed Ace warmly, "Hey kiddo."

Ace was immediately engulfed in a reassuring embrace.

"What are you doing here?" asked Ace looking at Shanks in wonder.

Shanks raised an eyebrow as if saying, really you need to ask?

"Oh, Luffy," answered Ace sheepishly, which seemed to remind him.

Ace patted Shanks shoulder and turned to their father.

"Pops," Ace's voice still had a bit of wonder uttering this word even after five months, Marco guessed that when that quality disappeared then he would really be feeling at home.

"Welcome back, son," Whitebeard had an amused look in his face. He had seen the whole thing going down from his chair with good sake in his hand (which meant he knew about the prank and what they had planned, and he let them waste who knew how many bags of flour. That was another matter to add to the list of things he wanted to discuss with his dear father) and where were the nurses anyway, who was supposed to be on duty today, Marco narrowed his eyes at his father's hand that was holding a huge bottle of sake (what else could it be?).

Whitebeard, who knew that look, raised the bottle deliberately to toast his upset son and took a big swig.

Marco sighed, there was no helping it.

"I'm back," Ace sheepishly answered, rubbing the back of his head, you could clearly see how happy he was to have a home. Then as if waking up from a happy dream to an unimaginable nightmare, Ace's whole body tensed and he demanded.

"Did they really find Luffy and Marcy? Are they okay? What happened? Do they know to where are they going? How did they seem? Were they hurt? Injured? Someone after them?" Ace asked all in one breath, he seemed to have a million and one things to ask.

When Ace stopped to take a much needed breath Whitebeard answered, his voice soft but firm, "They seem okay but are troublemakers indeed as you said. A.O and Doma are following their trail and they should be able to find them soon. We will get a call from them soon telling us what they found." Whitebeard eyed his son's hopeful face and added "What we know you know."

Ace's body seemed to slump and he sat on the ground. Red Hair sat beside him giving him a pat on the shoulder.

There was some color back to his body, a half depressed teenager, concluded Marco.

Coming to stand beside Marco and Jozu was Izo, still in his white kimono, Haruta who had taken off his ropes and Thatch who was giving him the dirty look and still messing with his hair, trying to comb it to its original form. The dirty look was gonna become much dirtier when Marco announced the duties of each division later tonight for the not so near future.

"So, who would like to explain about the whole scene-play-thing from before, yoi?" Marco asked again quietly, his eyes not leaving Ace.

His question got a smile from Izo, giggles from Haruta, and snort of laughter from Thatch who was putting the final touch on his perfect pompadour hair. Jozu only shook his head, giving him the impression that it really wasn't worth the headache.

Marco sighed inwardly. He would know soon enough, Thatch and Haruta would want him and Ace to appreciate their work of art, so they would explain repeatedly in day or two (enough that he would regret ever asking). Marco would gave them a half day before they began following them around explaining their genius prank.

Marco gave Ace his undivided attention. They were finally home, someone else was supposed to take care of the babysitting duty. There were several people right here he would trust with his life, some were standing right beside him, and they would keep Ace safe (maybe not mentally, some were too dum.. simpleminded to understand the complicated creature that was Ace) but still, he couldn't make himself move an inch from his place.

Red Hair was speaking quietly to Ace and Ace had titled his head to Shank's direction in order to listen more closely.

Marco's eyes narrowed to slits when Red Hair casually put his arm around Ace's shoulders. What was he planning? What was his purpose here?

This sight irritated him to no end.

No, he wasn't being overprotective. No, and he definitely was not jealous (a voice similar to Izo in his head whispered keep telling yourself that). It was quite normal to feel irritated when another Yonko was trying to recruit your crewmate plainly in front of you (that was his answer to the whispers, thank you very much).

As if feeling someone was irritated with him (and wanting to exploit that), the source of his irritation titled his head laughing, and looked behind him, spotting Marco, he cut his laughter and gave Marco a big smile, and asked.

"Ohh, if it isn't Marco the phoenix will you join my crew?"

Marco didn't need to think before he answered (that damn arm was still around Ace, maybe, just maybe he should cut that one off too, give Shanks symmetry again. Shanks would thanks him, really. Marco was just being a good samaritan).

"Die."

The answer made Red Hair and Ace (the little traitor) snicker and even their father had a knowing smile on his face.

Izo smiled beside him, and stage whispered, "Ohh Marco, watch out, or your beautiful blue flames are gonna turn green."

Marco refused to take a bite of this bait.

"HUH, what? You can change colors? Why you never told me? I want to see," Thatch demanded like a small excited child finding about Christmas for the first time. Thatch was looking at Marco as if expecting some fireworks, Marco didn't bother even with shaking his head.

"Uhg, Thatch you moron, Izo meant the green monster," Haruta explained and after small pause and seeing the still confused look on Thatch's face, Haruta added shaking his head in exasperation, "Jealousy!"

"Jealousy has a color?" was Thatch immediate question, a look of wonder on his face.

Haruta stared at him openmouthed while both Izo and Marco shared a look of 'what did I do in my life to deserve this' combined with 'why I am not surprised', and 'Oh God, gave me more patience'.

Haruta finally closed his mouth and gave Thatch a hard knock to the head, making Thatch forget about the colors. Instead Thatch began complaining, with tears in his eyes, to Jozu about how everyone was mean to him today and using violence against him, he was a delicate flower, they shouldn't touch his fabulous hair, he didn't deserve such behavior against his person.

Marco had several things to remark about...

"Pops," a loud call came from inside the ship, cutting his plans to tear Thatch a new one (saved by..).

Curiel came running from inside the ship stopping his stride when he saw the scene that welcomed him.

Apparently he wasn't part of the prank, Marco knew who would get a light duty for the next month or so.

Curiel seemed to be scanning the scene around him with bewilderment and uncertainty until his eyes landed at the crying Thatch (probably because of his loudness) that was trying to gently comb his hair once again, Curiel's face crunching up in confusion. Marco could follow his thoughts clearly: what the hell made Thatch cry? Thatch and Haruta were thick as thieves today planning something that he wanted nothing to do with, Izo wasn't pissed at Thatch and Marco wasn't here …

Curiel continued to scan the scene by Thatch, trying to find what could make the happy idiot so upset….

Marco saw it happen when Curiel seemed to realize that yes, Marco was actually here.

"Yo, Marco you're back, where's Ace?"

Ace hearing his name, looked behind him seeing Curiel, he shouted, "Yo, Curiel, here," and waved his hand (finally the hand was no longer on Ace's shoulder anymore).

"Great," called Curiel moving hurriedly to their direction while speaking loudly, "I have the A.O pirates on the line."

This made Ace jump in place and made everyone more alert, even Red Hair stopped smiling.

"Pops," said Curiel, it was a greeting and a question (and a show of deep seated respect), Whitebeard nodded and ordered, "Gave the Den Den Mushi to Ace."

Ace body relaxed and he smiled his half smile, "Thanks pops."

His father smiled back his eyes softened, and gave Ace another nod telling him do what he saw fit. Marco shook his head inwardly in fondness, their father was sucker for his children's selfish desires.

Marco moved to stand beside Ace, ignoring the still sitting Red Hair, (he was air, just an annoying wind) Ace turned to him and smiled a bit. Marco gave him a raised eyebrow and a pat on the shoulder, telling him clearly that he was here if Ace needed him.

Ace took the Den Den Mushi (with A.O's face) from Curiel carefully with both hands and sat back on the floor. He put the Den Den Mushi on the floor in front of him. Marco stayed standing beside him.

"Hello," Ace said unsure.

"Hello, is this pops?" Came the fast answer.

"No, this is Ace," Ace seemed unsure how to proceed, no, how to begin.

"Ace?" Repeated the confused voice, the Den Den Mushi was wrinkling its nose. Marco was not sure who was speaking, it sounded like A.O and he was the one that usually spoke with pops, but it was as if he was speaking through his nose.

"Ehm, Yes thank you for looking for my siblings," Ace answered still unsure.

"Wait a second, you're the brother of the two terrors," the Den Den Mushi had bugged eyes and an open mouth, Marco noted feeling a bit amused at the exaggerated reaction.

Ace smirked at the clear note of irritation in the speaker voice, Red Hair was chuckling beside him, their father had an amused anticipation look on his face.

Before Ace could answer and assure him that yes those two terrors were his darling brother and sister came the accused shouts.

"Why the hell didn't you tell us that the brat had a devil fruit power. Huh, it would've been great to know something like that!"

Ace looked taken aback and he tensed up.

Shit, Marco knew he had forgotten something.

Ace opened his mouth to answer, but Marco cut in, "It is my fault, yoi."

Dammit, Ace's revelation had made him forget everything else.

"Ace told me and I should've told you but other things were on my mind, yoi."

Red Hair snickered, Marco's eyes began to twitch once again so he said calmly and loudly, "At least I didn't let a seven year child eat a devil fruit, yoi."

Shanks spluttered, he stopped laughing, and stared at Marco who was giving him a raised eye, challenging him.

"I didn't let him eat it," he denied, "He ate it all on his own."

"Ohh," intoned Marco with another raised eyebrow, "where exactly was the devil fruit kept?"

Ace, eyeing both of them with mischievous look in his eyes, decided to add more oil to the flames, "Luffy said it was in a treasure box on the counter, and he thought it was a dessert."

"Unlocked box?" Marco asked, using the new information for his own advantage. He was waiting for an answer or any kind of reaction from Red Hair for him to exploit. Red Hair was busy looking at Ace accusingly (who smiled sheepishly in a non-vocal apology) and refusing to make any eye contact with Marco, Red Hair's face was completely blank.

But Marco intended to milk this moment for all it was worth.

"You call yourself a pirate, yoi, yet you left a treasure chest open in the open."

Red Hair was still refusing to look at him, making Marco hackles rise even more.

Whitebeard was quietly observing everything, his eyes full of amusement, letting everything play in front of him without his intervention. It was a treat to see his eldest lose a bit of control.

"Marco, is that you?" asked the voice of the Den Den Mushi cutting through Marco's verbal attacks and reminding him that he wasn't alone here (Marco refused to look around and see the reactions of his brothers or the knowing looks thrown in his direction from Izo and Jozu) instead he answered, "Yeah," and going with his gut, he added, "A.O."

"Yes," A.O answered.

Ace remembered what the whole point of this call was about and cut in hurriedly, "Did you find them?"

"Yes," A.O answered immediately.

Ace's whole face and body lit up, he half stood up in a happy jump, Marco hadn't seen this Ace for a while.

"Can I..." Ace began to ask excitedly, his face showing deep relief and joy, the sprinkling freckles on his cheeks appeared to sparkle showing how truly happy he was.

"Kinda," come the correction from A.O.

Ace sat back down his face blank again, and quietly asked "What do you mean?"

"We found them and then we lost them," the voice quietly explained, with no small amount of hesitation underlying their words.

"What do you mean you lost them?" Ace and Red Hair both shouted in rage, glaring furiously at the (poor) Den Den Mushi. Ace was emitting small hot flames on his shoulders, he and Red Hair shared a look of complete understanding, which didn't sit well with Marco.

The line stayed quiet, Ace took a deep breath and seemed to force himself to relax with great effort.

"Could you please explain from the beginning," Ace asked calmly, his right hand was clutching his feet while the other one was near the Den Den Mushi, not touching it, but opening and closing.

Ace's whole demeanor was emitting a tense feeling, Marco put his hand gently on Ace's shoulder (the flames dancing around his touch) and squeezed a bit, "please" Ace added.

The quiet from the other side continued, Ace's hand come to his own shoulder touching Marco's hand and squeezing back, then Ace let his arm drop back to his lap.

"Do you know about what happened in the Goddess Island?" Finally A.O answered or more accurately asked them.

"HUH?" Was Ace's confused response.

Marco had heard of that island before, he couldn't remember the exact details but it was in the list of islands to avoid.

Thatch, who was with others listening in jumped near them and crouched down by Ace he said, "Hey A.O, we didn't have the chance to tell them yet, they just arrived and we couldn't tell them too much on the Den Den Mushi call," he said the last bit conspiringly.

"Yeah, got it Thatch-chan."

"Don't worry, we will fill them in later," Thatch added quite happily. Marco had feeling it was all somehow connected to the Oh unique welcoming they got.

"Do you have a cold?" Thatch asked, scrunching his nose in worry, "your voice sounds different."

That question brought laughter and loud snickers from the other side of the call, apparently A.O's crew was listening in, just like them.

Marco heard A.O curse colorfully at them, with his cold it sounded funny. The Den Den Mushi was showing bugged eyes again, now with clenching teeth.

"He has broken nose thanks to your little sister," someone new took the Den Den Mushi and explained, making laughter arrive to their side too, and making Thatch lose his balance laughing and fall on his back.

Ace looked a bit floored and then he gave a chuckle too.

Marco lifted his hand from Ace's shoulder and helped the laughing Thatch stand up, Thatch thanked him smiling, apparently he had already forgotten his grudge against Marco, but unfortunately for Thatch, Marco had not (cleaning, food stocks checks, night watch and the list goes on).

Two terrors indeed thought Marco amused looking at the laughing Ace and remembering all the stories that Ace shared with him on their voyage about his two siblings.

Red Hair was laughing all out.

"At least I can walk straight," came A.O's taunting voice.

"Oh God," Ace stopped laughing and winced as if in great pain, his whole body slumping.

"How bad?" Ace asked, his voice filled with worry and dread.

"Needed three people to lift him up and bring him to the ship, and he stopped crying only after two hours with constant ice on it," Ace grimaced some more, Marco winced while Haruta stopped clutching his stomach and threw himself at the floor, hitting the deck with fisted hands and laughing nonstop, even Izo was hiding a smile behind his hand and Jozu gave a snort and seemed to relax a bit.

Thatch asked looking around him in bewilderment, not liking the feeling of being left out, "why would a nose injury stop you from walking right?"

His question made new loud laughter erupt in both sides, Hatura choked on laugh and began coughing, he finally was trying to sit up, Izo needed to kneel and pat him on the back, Jozu shook his head in worry, or was it in exasperation?

Someone finally explained what had happened to the confused Thatch.

"No, I got kicked on the nose, Dustin got kicked in the balls," A.O said and there was a tiny bit of gratefulness underlying his voice, a clear relief that he wasn't the victim of the latter.

Thatch was mouthing the words when he finally realized the meaning of what happened and turned to Ace shouting accusingly "What the hell Ace? Don't your brother and sister know that there things that just shouldn't be done? That is sacred place to all men," he had both his hands hovering protectively around his genital area.

Red Hair choked on the sake he was drinking, spitting it on some unaware crewmates and began laughing all out while apologizing. Jozu snorted a long laugh beside him, Marco would swear he heard the still kneeling Izo giggle, Haruta gave up on sitting and was trying to breathe and laugh at the same time, which made him cough laughs and hiccup snorts.

"It was Marcy," guessed Ace his shoulders slumped, not bothering to answer Thatch's accusations.

"It was the girl," come the voice from A.O's side in the same time, confirming Ace's assumption.

Marco would swore he heard Ace murmur 'don't I know it'. He was going to ask Ace about it privately, there definitely was an entertaining story there and he needed all the entertainment he could get after this day ended.

"Stop lying, she didn't kick you in the nose she planted a huge pot on your face," a voice from the other end of Den Den Mushi loudly announced. The Den Den Mushi had lopsided smirk on its face and a playful glint in its eyes, and then in knowing voice, he added "a really slimy one, so slimy it was shiny."

Hearing that made ringing hoots of laughter break out on A.O's side.

Marco gave smirk while imaging the shiny pot smacking on A.O's face.

"Drool and spit," Red Hair generously explained to the uncomprehending pirates around him while drinking joyfully from his bottle.

"Who the hell drags a huge pot with him while running?" Asked A.O in defeat, the Den Den Mushi shaking in a slumped pose, not expecting an answer.

Ace sighed and answered nonetheless, "That would be Luffy," making Red Hair laugh and hit the ground with his bottle repeatedly.

After the laughter (finally) decreased on both sides of the Den Den Mushi Ace asked again, he seemed really tired and even Red Hair quieted down and was eyeing Ace worriedly.

"Would you please explain what happened?"

A.O sighed, murmuring about a killing headache and for everyone to shut the f**ck up and then he began explaining.

"Well, we sailed according to the information Doma gave us and arrived late morning to the island we suspected your siblings were docked on." He paused, trying to get his thoughts in order, guessed Marco.

"We easily confirmed that they were actually here by finding the ship that the residents of Goddess Island gave them," someone jumped in to add after A.O finished, "it would have been hard to miss," someone muttered sarcastically which earned him snickers and whistles of agreement.

A.O had probably done something because the quiet was back few seconds later and A.O continued.

"We asked around at the docks and they said that the ship arrived yesterday night, so I and some of my crew went to look for them in the town straight away using their wanted posters, and some stayed at the docks in case they came back here," A.O sighed and then added sorrowfully "and you know what happened when we found them," invoking laughter and chuckles all around once again.

A.O waited until after the laughter diminished as if reflecting on what had happened and then added.

"We couldn't even ask them anything, they just ran and attacked us when we tried to stop them and then your brother just shot himself and your sister into the sky with whatever power he had, leaving behind a bag."

A.O added, his voice showing how tired he was, "I guess it was our fault too, for just trying to grab them."

"You tried to grab them," Ace repeated slowly shaking his head, Red hair snorted a humorless laugh.

A.O ignored their reactions, and continued to give details.

"I sent some men to look for them in the hills and some to stay in their small ship."

The broken nose effect was more prominent the more he spoke, Marco felt a twinge of pity for him.

"If you have any advice on how to handle them that will be great," A.O asked earnestly and added, "I don't want any more injuries to my men and we don't want to injure them."

Ace's body tensed and so did Red Hair at the indication that the two brats could get hurt. Marco didn't like him but he could respect Shanks's power and right now his aura was emitting just that.

"First don't try to grab them," Ace warned, his voice was calm but not his body.

Snickers and snorts come from both sides.

"Oh, we learnt that for ourselves," assured some other voice combined with a distinct Den Den Mushi eye roll, not A.O, was it Dustin? the poor fellow with the blue balls.

"Tell them straight away that you know me," Ace added ignoring the laughter and the calls around them.

"We should have done that," muttered A.O angrily, probably at himself.

"It will make them stop running and attacking you for few seconds at worst," Ace explained, his voice letting them know this was not a magical solution, and he added to stress this point, "But it will make them more suspicious."

Ace paused and while sighing he added "Or should l say it will make Marcy more suspicious and Luffy will do what Marcy tells him."

Marco heard him murmur softly, "hopefully," and saw Red Hair give Ace a questioning look combined with a raised eyebrow as if asking, really?.

Ace stopped speaking, lost in thought, he was trying to find the best way to handle the suspicious sister of his.

"We figured that she ran the show," A.O added his two Beli when the silence continued and explained.

"We asked around to see what the island people knew about them, and we got different reactions."

"Oh?" asked a smiling Shanks when Ace didn't react immediately to the new information.

"Some old lady chased some of my men with her broom shouting at us to leave the poor children alone."

They heard someone murmur near A.O, "she was vicious," followed by jeers and snickers.

"A small child followed my men around, staring at them and growling, he even threw some rotten tomatoes at them."

A.O sighed again, Marco could clearly imagine him rubbing his head in irritation, "and then there was that accident."

Someone laughed and remarked, "the poor sod almost shitted himself."

"What happened?" asked Shanks and Thatch together excitedly, they shared an animated look their smiles getting bigger, Marco had a real bad feeling about this.

A.O sighed deeply again and then ordered, "Ray, you explain."

The voice that gave the shitting remark spoke.

"We needed some new parts to fix the second engine, so I looked around and found a shop with the parts we needed and while I was there I decided to show the two brat's posters."

A cough near him made him correct himself, "the two adorable children's posters."

Ace snorted when he heard Ray use adorable to describe his siblings.

Ray paused and then began to describe the situation," there were three young men cleaning and organizing things around the shop and an old man behind the counter who went looking for the parts in the warehouse adjacent to the shop," he stopped speaking, letting everything sink in.

"So I asked the two young men close to me if they happened to see these two while showing them their wanted posters," Ray paused.

Marco guessed that it wasn't the second or third time he was telling this story, but that he had told it quite a number of times, Ray knew how to keep his listeners in suspense.

"One of them screamed and stumbled to the floor while trying to run away, shaking all the while," he paused deliberately again.

"The other one just fainted and fell to the floor, not moving." He paused again.

"The other young man came running from the other side of the shop to see what had happened and when he saw the wanted posters I was holding in each hand he just knelt on the floor and begin begging for forgiveness," Ray paused and murmured, as if speaking to himself, "wasn't sure what was he saying, but between the jumbled 'sorries' I swear he said, small tomato, be good, no more, and not the baby parts."

Everyone was listening in anticipation around Marco, some with big smiles on their faces and some murmuring excitedly about what could had happened while snickers and chuckles could be heard in the other side of the call, it was apparent that they knew the story.

"The old man came in at that moment bringing the parts with him, he was saying how lucky I was because he found the exact parts and how he usually didn't keep them in stock because they were so expensive. He stopped speaking when he saw the scene in front of him," Ray stopped and took a long breath.

"I was still stupidly standing there with their wanted posters in each hand and when the man saw them he trembled. I swear you could see the tremble run down his whole huge body down and up again."

He stopped speaking for dramatic effect, Marco could see how everyone was moving a bit closer in the Den Den Mushi's direction unconsciously.

"We stood there for few seconds, he was clutching the parts, I was afraid he would break them, I was standing there staring at him staring at the wanted posters," Ray paused and hurriedly added.

"The man finally squeaked 'friends of yours?', the question caught me unprepared, I wasn't sure how to answer him but then I said 'yes, I am looking for them? Did you meet them? When was it? But the man didn't answer me, he moved carefully to my direction and then he held the parts for me to take, which I did after putting the wanted posters in my bag, and I asked him how much I owed him."

Ray stopped again pausing for few seconds, Marco's eye began to twitch impatiently, he saw Thatch salivating near the Den Den Mushi opening his mouth, probably to demand what happened next, when Ray finally added.

"The man, now less tense without the posters in front of him, shook his head repeatedly saying no need, no need and asked if I could please remind her highness that he and his shops were always in her service and she could come whenever she wanted and take anything, anything she wanted. I was bewildered but told him sure, and he insisted on seeing me out of the shop, telling me any friend of her gracious grace was always welcome."

Laughter and snickers could be heard on both sides with concluding of the story, Thatch, with a wild glint in his eyes (that promised the perfect plan which meant a raging headache for Marco), jumped and run to their father's chair demanding their immediate adoption to the Whitebeard family, the still coughing Hatura following his steps, nodding his agreement, and hoarsely begging for the two adorable brats to join the crew. Several of his brothers joined them in this demand, their father just bellowed his laughter as an answer, but Marco knew the look which was twinkling in his father's eyes and what it promised. He felt his headache intensify, Marco stopped himself from rubbing his head again (it wouldn't help anyway, Marco reflected on his previous decision, just maybe he should have gone with the banging option).

Marco observed Ace, wanting to gauge his reaction to the idea of his siblings joining the crew.

Hmmm, Ace was not saying anything, he hadn't for a while. His body was tilted down and he was clutching his stomach, but he clearly had an amused smirk on his face and so did Red Hair, they both shared a knowing look (making Marco's eye twitch). They looked like they were forcing themselves not to erupt in laughter.

Red Hair lost the battle and began laughing hysterically, he dropped the empty sake bottle and clutched his stomach, there were tears rolling from his eyes.

What the hell? wondered Marco, there seemed to be an obvious joke that everyone was missing except those two, Marco eyed Ace's profile and moved to see his face clearly, he was biting his lips hard.

When he saw that Marco was looking at him he gave a smirk and averted his eyes, not making an eye contact with anybody.

"So Ace you're not only a God but you come from a royal family, you should have told us, your gracious grace," someone laughingly joked, breaking the happy mood.

Ace tensed up immediately, his smirk disappearing.

Shit, not good, if everyone began calling Ace your highness it would be a disaster.

"What exactly had happened with those people to make them behave like this, yoi?" Marco asked immediately and loudly intending to distract Ace and everyone else from Ace's reaction, he saw both Shanks and Izo eyeing Ace worriedly and speculatively, and their father's eyes were narrowed.

"Apparently the three young men that were at the shop are known troublemakers in the town and they were committing some mischief destroying a small restaurant and even stole the br... adorable young boy's hat," Ray was more than happy to explain, giving a chuckle at the end.

The mood in the ship changed, and not into something Marco had expected, he was trying to distract not change the mood by 180 degrees.

The killing aura emitted from both Ace (combined with flames along his arms) and more specifically Red Hair, made everyone except the commanders nearby take several steps back. Some of the crew cried in alarm and others were looking in confusion around them not understanding what could have happened in those few seconds to change the joyful mood, and few unlucky to be too near to the power source gone to sleep a bit early (AKA fainted).

Marco eyes narrowed even their father seemed unhappy, he was frowning, and no, it wasn't because of Ace and Red Hair's reaction.

What did Ray say again? What was in his words that triggered such reaction? The hat accident? When Marco saw the hat in the wanted poster, it did seems familiar to his eyes, he couldn't pinpoint why. But what was its importance here?

Red Hair relaxed his body, going for another bottle of sake and remarked, "Seems the punishment fits the crime," he had a lopsided smile on his face, Red Hair was trying to break the tense mood that he was responsible for creating.

Ace relaxed in return and murmured, "They are lucky that they didn't end up in some hospital bed screaming in agony," and added loudly to the listening Den Den Mushi, "Oi, you should tell your crew mates not under any circumstance to touch the hat."

"Got it," come the immediate answer, it seemed that the weighty tense mood had somehow travelled to the other side. Ace seemed on a roll, adding hurriedly in the same serious manner.

"With Marcy you shouldn't call her small or short or tomato," Ace stopped speaking, thinking better to stop any future misunderstandings (or disasters more like it) he corrected himself, "Just don't try to give her nicknames or joke with her. Be to the point when speaking with her until she knows that you are friends and even then don't use the word small or tomato."

Ace had painful look on his face, he added seriously, "Just don't for your own sake!"

"We will let everyone know," murmured A.O. He seemed to take the warning seriously, telling people near him to let everyone know about Ace's advice.

Ace had his arms crossed over his chest when he announced.

"And I think I have the best way to handle them."

His announcement brought the quiet that Marco so wished for, people on both sides were waiting to hear the magic way in handling the brats without getting broken nosesadorned with drool and spit or blue balls.

Marco was curious himself, he knew more than anyone here (including Red Hair! Dammit!) how much of handful they were, Ace's stories were echoing in his head.

"Oh?" Came from A.O and he wasn't able to hide how hopeful he sounded.

"Just call me and let me speak with Marcy," Ace said, some of the crew snorted and other shook their head about how obvious it was. Marco smiled at how focused Ace when speaking about handling his darling baby siblings.

"Anything else I could tell you to say to her to prove that you know me and that you wouldn't hurt them would just make her more suspicious and paranoid but speaking to me personally would make her relax and agree to go with you without too much trouble."

Others might have missed the way Ace said too, but not Marco, and apparently Izo with his raised eyebrow, had also noticed. Red Hair also had a big mysterious smile which he was trying to hide behind the sake bottle near his mouth.

"I see, how many Den Den Mushi do we have?" Came A.O.'s voice, he was speaking to someone from his own crew.

"Five counting the one you are using," answered a voice a bit far and added "The group looking in the hills have one, I will call them and let them know about the plan."

"Do that," A.O ordered and then to Ace he said.

"You stay on standby, when we find them we will call you straight away," and let you handle the two terrors, was left unspoken.

"I will be waiting," Ace said seriously and added, "be careful not to let them leave the island, it would be really hard to track them a second time. Marcy doesn't make the same mistake twice and she will be much more vigilant," Ace emphasized the warning.

A.O hummed to indicate that he heard.

"We will keep you updated," A.O said as goodbye.

Clank.

On the other side of the Moby Dick, seven people in small boat connected to the Moby by two huge ropes stayed out of all the festivities and were trying to make sure that dinner was served on time tonight.

"Catch anything new?" Tim asked, he was a tall man with long beard who was preparing the fishing nets and he was a bit grumpy today. After all he had gotten stuck at dinner duty for the third time this week.

He got calls of no and some head shakes and one grunt.

"What all the ruckus about, Shiky?" Asked Gerald, a big man with curly brown hair hiding his small eyes.

"Oh, Marco and Ace have returned.." Shiky said the young man who had a slim build with short trimmed red hair, he was known to be a bit absent minded in times, which was the case here.

"Shit, means we need to double the number of fishes," complained Lee loudly, casting and reeling in his line, he was a tall man with huge tummy with big green hat hiding his bald head.

"You mean triple it at least!" Tim corrected while groaning, and raising his thick eyebrows in unhappiness.

Groans of despair could be heard everywhere.

"Ahah, weren't Thatch and Haruta planning some kind of prank to welcome them?" asked Darren, he was a plain man, his most distinct feature was his acrostic nose and his deep voice.

"As usual you mean," intoned Ben in his matter of fact tone, evoking sinkers and laughters all around.

Ben was a medium built man who always wore a black long coat no matter the weather and answered in a matter of fact tone to everything, making everything he said sounds like a joke (which fitted him just fine, he liked joking around), even when he was dead serious.

"True, they are always planning some new prank, I think their main work is being the clowns in this ship and then as the commanders," Tim remarked, he and Shiky were about to throw the nets into the water.

"One thing for sure, it is never boring on the Moby," Gerald added, cursing his fishing rod that got jumbled with the nets again.

Answers of agreement and nods was uttered by the other six.

"So what did they plan this time?" Asked Darren, not bothering to hide the anticipation in his voice.

Shiky shrugged and muttered, "Wasn't paying attention."

"It was some song about gods that Thatch had everyone memorize," explained Rin, an enthusiastic young man with dark blue hair that was always in ponytail which moved with his every movement. He was the happy go lucky kind of person that found good in everything.

"I saw Thatch and some of his division dragging several bags of flour and saw some of them painting their faces with it. I thought they were doing the ghost ship story again," remarked Lee.

"Nah, Marco was pissed last time about all the wasted flour. He put Thatch and the whole fourth division on cleaning duty and hunting for four months," said Gerald.

"Six months, and storage arrangements too and the night watch for eight," Rin corrected.

"Oh right Rin, I forgot that you are from Thatch's division," Tim shook his head in pity.

"Poor you," Ben added in his matter of fact tone, even Shiky come close to Rin patting him consolingly on the shoulder.

"So, what do you think your division are gonna stuck with this time?" asked Darren amused at Rin's plight.

"We still have the best food and the best parties," Rin defended his division with big smile on his face.

Everyone groaned.

"Rub it in, will you," Darren complained, remembering all the delicious aromas that come wafting from the fourth division private parties.

Thatch had many faults, they were too many to count, but he was known to take special care of his own division.

"What song?" Gerald asked out of nowhere, startling his drooling mates.

"Huh," was Shiky's eloquent answer.

"Ehh, something dear god, bless us with protection from the cannon balls," Rin answered trying to sing the words.

"No, it was give us golden balls," Tim corrected.

Everyone snickered and snorted.

"Huh, I was sure Thatch said don't kick us on the balls," added Ben in his matter of fact tone, making everyone except him laugh harder, Lee almost lost his grip on the rod handle.

"Who is the god?" Inquired Lee still laughing.

"Marco, The chicken god," Ben announced in his special tone.

"No, Ace for sure," Rin said still laughing.

"I heard it was Ace too," Darren concurred with Rin while snorting.

"Haruta was asking around for Ace's wanted poster," Gerald gave the detail, he would know because he was from Haruta's division.

"They framed it," Rin added, amusement clear in his voice.

"God Ace give us golden balls," Ben announced.

Laughter erupted again.

"You forget to say, our beloved god Ace," Tim corrected snickering himself.

More laughter emerged brightening the mood.

"Hey, I think I caught something in the nets," said Darren suddenly, bending over to grip the moving net.

"Finally! We have our beloved god Ace's stomach to fill," Lee said, reeling in his rod and standing up to help in reeling in the huge net.

"It's heavy," Darren added trying to lift it up slowly, Shiky coming to help him too.

"A Big one," he added.

…

There were no wriggling fishes awaiting them.

"Another box," said Gerald shaking his head in misery looking at what the nets revealed.

"How many today?" Asked Darren, sighing.

"The sixth, I think." Answered Tim quietly, his shoulders slumped.

"Bad luck," muttered Shiky.

"Maybe this one will have something valuable in it," said Rin, always the optimistic spirit.

"What was in the last one?" Inquired Lee.

"Wet gunpowder," answered Ben.

"No, that was the first," corrected Tim grumpily.

"And the third," added Shiky, it was the one he pulled out.

"The last one had wet papers in it," Gerald declared.

"Wasn't that the one with nasty smell?" Darren asked

"No, that was the second one, we threw it right back," Tim reminded them, shaking his head at the memory.

"What was it?" Shiky asked wrinkling his nose at the memory of the smell.

"Whatever it was it was nasty," Lee said amidst nods of agreement.

"Just bring the damn axe, and let's open it and then get back to fishing," said Tim while sighing and rubbing his head.

"Aye aye," said Lee and gripped the axe near him.

"Wait," called Rin urgently, when Lee was about to hit it open.

He kneeled down beside the box and touched it carefully.

"Oh our beloved god Ace bless us and give us some golden balls please," Rin gravely intoned while kneeling on the floor, earning laughter and eye rolls from the people surrounding him. He ignored them and repeated the phrase gravely two more times.

"Come on, we don't have all day, we still need to fish something edible," Tim added in tone of someone on the last thread of his patience.

Lee got to work.

Silence prevailed after the box was violently opened.

"..."

"Shit," exclaimed Gerald.

"..."

"You are seeing this?" Darren demanded looking around him at the stunned faces.

"..."

"Holy balls!" intoned Ben.

"Oh my God," said Shiky shakily.

"No, you mean, Oh my Ace," Tim corrected absentmindedly staring at…

Thr…..

Three..

Three golden medium sized balls, were inside the treasure box, they were actually not balls, but egg shaped. But for the seven staring pirates, they were balls, and nothing could change their mind about it.

The kneeling Rin stood abruptly up, "I am gonna find Thatch," he announced and bolted up to the ropes, climbing into the Moby.

Shiky was hot on his heels while repeating those two phrases "Holy golden balls!", "Bless our God Ace."

The five remaining pirates, stared silently at the box, then at each other, and then back at the three golden balls, and again at each other and simultaneously exclaimed, "Oh, my Ace."

In that moment the matter of great importance was forgotten as the five gawking openmouthed pirates would soon be reminded of…

Rudely and loudly be reminded of.

Dinner!

Oh my Ace.

So what do you want to happen next?

Basically, I hadn't even begun to write or plan the next chapter, I have a lot of 'half baked ideas', and I saw a lot of 'complaints' to meet up already.

So, do you want Luffy and Marcy to meet the Whitebeard allies (not Ace) next chapter? I promise to take your opinions under consideration, but that's doesn't mean that what you request will happen for sure in the next chapter.

The lyrics for the rite of passage song (bare chested pirates) were taken from: You Are A Pirate by Lazy Town. It was edited to fit the situation ..

Let me know what are your thought about this chapter too...

I am hungry like Luffy to get some reviews :)