Newgate felt as he had gained everything the world had to offer. He was powerful; his devil fruit had made it so. He was wealthy; treasure had no bounds, and riches were easily attained. He was famous; marines stood no chance against him, and his bounty was large. But the one thing he lacked, and the only thing he wanted, was company. His captain had died years ago, and his crew had disbanded quickly after. Newgate wanted a crew, but the right people just never seemed to come along. He was wondering if he should just give up and settle down in some quaint, little old village. No. He couldn never give up his boat. The Moby Dick was Newgate's pride and joy, made especially for him at Water 7. But the ship got quiet sometimes, and all you could often hear were the waves crashing against the hull.

'A ship this large shouldn't be so empty' thought Newgate, steering the Moby Dick towards Pineapple Island's shores. Newgate had wanted to come here for a long time, but had never really gotten the chance. Finally, he'd attained an Eternal Log Pose, and began sailing there instantly. He'd heard that the island's pineapples, after which the island itself had been named, were to die for. But they were guarded by a mythological beast. Newgate knew the 'beast' was probably just a mythical zoan type; nothing he couldn't handle anyways.

He docked the Moby Dick, and jumped off onto the beach. The sand ran upwards on a slant till it met a jungle. The jungle was filled with pineapple trees, but they were all barren. Whitebeard sighed. If the fruit was all gone, this trip would've been for nothing. So he decided to go further into the forest, trekking up the hill.

When he reached the peak of the slope, he looked down to see a large waterfall curtaining a large pineapple plantation, and flowing into a river surrounding the plantation. Obviously, the bodies of water were to keep out Devil Fruit users. The 'beast' would kill off whoever did get through. 'Are these damned pineapples really that good?' thought Newgate, trying to assess the best way to reach the other side. He scanned the area. The 'beast' must have a way to get in.

"Don't even try, whitebeard" said a bird, flitting above Newgate's head. No, not a bird, a pheonix.

"Are you the keeper of this grove?" asked Newgate, looking up.

"As a matter of a fact, I am. And as keeper, it's my duty to ensure that noone every reaches this grove or the fruit within it."

"Well, I'd like to challenge you in that case."

"Doesn't everyone?" chuckled the bird, diving towards Newgate.

Hours later, the pheonix had been defeated, and had reverted to his human form. A man stood before Newgate, his hair golden and his face long. Newgate had to say, the man looked rather like a pineapple himself.

Still panting, the guardian kneeled at Newgate's feet.

"I have failed in my duties," he said, head bowed, "You may taste the fruit."

Newgate laughed heartily.

"Who says you have failed? I have a proposition for you. You can, obviously, no longer be guardian of this grove once you report to your superiors that you have 'failed' in protecting it. Why not just ditch this place, and sail the seas with me? As a pirate."

"Freedom…" whispered the man, his eyes glowing and hopeful.

"I don't have a crew or a name yet, but I can guarantee you unrestraint and the pleasure do as you please."

"Deal," said the man, smiling softly, ruffling his own hair.

"Alright then…"

"Marco," said the man, "Marco the Pheonix."

"Figures. Alright then, Marco, let's get going then!"

"You got it, whitebeard!"

"I don't even have a beard…"

"Yeah, but 'whitebeard' sounds better than 'whitemoustache' doesn't it?"

A.N.: Hello! Here it is! Sorry for the delay! Thank you to OnePieceNarutoBleachFan for being so supportive! I wanted to add kind of a touch of parody in there, just to make it a bit silly. Because, I love to think of Whitebeard as the kind of dad who'd make stupid dad jokes and get really lonely without his family. He just seems like that kind of guy. Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! See you tomorrow for Marguerite and Caesar Clown!