Chapter 1

CRASH!

"Shit that hurt." Ace was sitting with his back against the side of the ship. Blood was dripping from his nose and there was an ache in his chest.

"Are you ever gonna give it up?" Marco came up to bashed up teen already used to the sight. That must have been the 100th failed attempt at killing the old man although, the Whitebeard crew had to admire his persistence.

Now Ace was sitting in the broken pile of wood of the door that once led as a way to enter the Captain's corners. A deep scowl was etched into his face and he kept a hateful glare directed at the direction he came flying from moments ago. The pirate wasn't oblivious to the division commander standing next to him but chose to ignore him for the moment hoping the older man would leave. He didn't take the bait.

"You sure have been going at it a lot more frequently now, haven't you?" It was true. The people onboard the ship practically kept a schedule on when the murder attempt on their captain was taking place but now it was warped. Ace was trying to kill the old man sometimes more than once per day. Unfortunately, it was taking its toll.

Ace tried getting up but the aches and pains in his body were making things difficult. "Shut up. The more chances I give myself the better." As he was finishing his attempt at standing a small yelp escaped his mouth from the after shock of getting continually thrown around. Damn, he was all fire, so why was he hurting everywhere? It was just like that other old man's "fist of love". Marco looked a bit concerned. He had to be after watching the carnage for almost a month.

"You look horrible, go to the infirmary or something." Ace gave him a look like he was about to say something back but bit his lip. Leaning against the ship's side for support now he couldn't help but agree. He just felt like taking a good nap right now.

"Yeah whatever." He started making his way towards his cabin still grasping the wall to keep him steady. Marco stayed there for a moment before turning around and walking away.

Now sitting on his bed Ace flopped down and closed his eyes for a bit. He was thankful he had his own room inside this ship and not cramped up with some strangers. Ignoring the pain he was in he rolled over on his bed to the side table. Pulling open the drawer, he rummaged about to pull out a piece of paper. He crawled his way up the bed so that his elbows were now resting comfortably on the pillow and he could get a better view of what was in his hand.

'So my baby brother is a wanted criminal?' Ace thought. He couldn't wait to get to the next island and find new posters. It was killing him to know his brother's progress. He really wanted to get his hands on any newspaper too, anything just to hear what new messes Luffy was causing. He stared at the poster longer taking in the grinning portrait. 'He looks really happy.'

As he was taking in the details Ace noticed the back of someone else's head. His crew mate maybe? Now that he thought about it he could only imagine the hell they were going through. Having taken care of the troublemaking teen he knew better than anyone the massive amounts of stress the small boy could sum up for the people around him.

"Damn it." Ace cursed to himself silently. Here his brother was going on his adventures making a name for himself and Ace was just sitting in his enemies ship. He set out strictly to kill Whitebeard and if he didn't hurry up soon, his brother was going to end up surpassing him. There was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. This was the reason he was trying twice as hard to finish what he started and kill that old man.

Ace dropped the thoughts for now. He was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to fall into a deep slumber and sleep off the pains.

"I'll try again tomorrow so don't get any funny ideas Luffy." Ace smiled and tucked the paper under his pillow before passing out.

Meanwhile on the deck of the Moby Dick

"So how long do you think till he finally gives in?" Thatch and Marco were sitting in the center of the ship. A few other crewmembers were walking about including some of the other division commanders.

"Not sure but he should quit it. Pops doesn't need this extra work." The blond man had a bit of an annoyed face. The other man just chuckled lightly.

Thatch got up and stretched. It was still the middle of the day but he felt a bit sluggish. "Isn't there anything to do around here? When are we getting to the next island?' He was whining from boredom. Marco just ignored the man with the scar on his face. Thatch started making his way to the side of the ship but stopped suddenly squinting at something.

"What is it?" Marco followed after him wondering what caught the eye of his friend.

"Is that another ship out there?" He pointed towards a medium sized ship, it was pretty far out but you could still make out the outline. Probably some pirate crew who didn't even know how close they've drifted to one of the four emperors of the sea.

"Don't know." Marco noticed how the ship wasn't going directly in there direction and tried to get a look at the insignia. Nnn…nope, it was still too far.

After a few more moments of trying to figure out which pirate crew it was a few more crewmembers joined in to see.

"What seems to be the problem?" A deep aged voice came up from behind the group of men. They all turned around a bit surprised.

"Father! What are you doing out here." Some of the subordinate pirates were questioning.

"Go sit down pops, you should be resting." This time Marco interrupted and Led the legendary pirate to his large chair near the center of the ship. Only after sitting him down did Whitebeard speak again.

"So it seems there is a ship out there… which one?" The old man didn't seem at all worried. Instead he was more curious.

"We don't know which one but it doesn't seem like it knows we're here." Marco was on the same page as his captain, not showing any concern either. Suddenly one of the younger pirates came up to them yelling.

"They're shooting at us!" Marco's eyes widened as they all saw a small dark shape coming towards them. That's strange. He didn't even hear a canon shot. Well whatever it was, it wasn't welcome.

Vista came up from behind with a smile. "I'll take care of it." Marco nodded but as seconds passed and the object came closer, they heard…yelling?

"Vista stop! It's a person!" Marco yelled at the right time. Everyone else seemed to notice the problem too and started clearing the deck in a panic.

In the next moment there was a loud explosion as something, scratch that, someone collided with the far side of the Deck. Wood went flying and smoke hung around the air. The people on board stayed where they were and Marco inched closer to the scene.

There was a silence, and then coughing. Behind the cloud of smoke they could make out a small figure. He stood up and seemed to dust his pants off. A bit more of the smoke disappeared and they finally saw the intruder.

"Aaah, Sanji! I said I was sorry." The stranger spoke to himself in a whiny voice. The figure seemed to be young kid, maybe around 16? He was scrawny with a red shirt and straw hat on his back. After collecting himself, the completely unharmed boy looked up with surprised eyes. They darted around for a second then turned into a confused face.

"Huhhh? Where am I?"