" I'd hate to see you die here, kid." A rather tall elderly man with a large white mustache said. He wore a black bandana on top of his head. He had a long white Commander's coat dropped over his well muscled shoulders. Scars littered his naked upper torso. His cold black eyes glared down at the teen boy crumpled at his feet. He bleed from the many cuts and scraps on his body…and of course the large one on his chest that the man himself had given him moments ago. The elderly man's name was Edward D Newgate…aka Whitebeard, the strongest man in the world. The man closest to maintaining the mythical treasure One Piece and becoming the next King of the Pirates.

" It'd be such a waste of talent." The man crouched beside the boy, gripping a massive bisento in his right hand. The boy glared back at him angrily. The elderly man admired the determination he saw in the teen's eyes as they fought desperately to stay awake. " If you still want to wreak havoc on this sea, bear my name on your back and go wild as much as you like!" He grinned tauntingly down at the teen whose eyes widened in disbelief as he fought desperately to retain consciousness.

" Become my son!" The boy's jaw went slack at the very thought. He was still fighting to keep conscious when he heard himself yell: " YOU'VE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Just before he lost consciousness.

" SHIT!" The teen yelled as he jolted awake. His entire body hurt. 'Moron…' He thought. 'That's what you get for fighting for five days straight…but where am I?' He glanced around at his surroundings. A plain cabin with a generic bed, dresser and in table which currently his hat and dagger sat on. He reached over to grab his hat when pain shot from his chest throughout his entire body.

'SHIT!' He thought angrily. 'Way to bite off more then you could chew, Ace!' Then the realization of where he was hit him like a sack of bricks. This wasn't his cabin…this wasn't the medical room on his ship…this wasn't even his ship! He jolted out of the bed, ignoring the steering pain pulsating throughout his entire body. Running as fast as his injured body could allow, tripping over his boots that were next to his bed, he flung open the cabin. Fresh air and sunlight blasted him in the face.

Ace's eyes widened in horror at the sight before him. Waves crashed loudly in his ears, salt and wind slapped his face lightly. Seagulls flew skillfully into the open skies around him. " Shit…" He muttered quietly. " Shit, shit, shit!"

" Oh, so you're awake!" Ace jumped at the sound of a cheerful male voice to his left. He turned to see a tall man, his light brown hair styled into a pompadour. Around his left eye was a large scar. He white clothes, resembling a chef's shirt and capris, with black buttons running down the right side. A gold scarp was tied around is shoulders. " We were starting to think your fights with Jinbei and Pops may have killed you."

" What am I your hostage?" Ace growled angrily. " I hate to tell you that no one's going to pay a ransom for me."

" Wow, you're a right little ray of sunshine aren't you?" The man laughed. " We're not ransoming you to anyone, so you can relax."

" What happened to my crew?"

" Well after you passed out they tried to gift with the captain and he beat them silly." The man pulled himself up onto the railing to sit. " My name's Thatch, by the way." Ace glared at him. " If you're wondering about your crew's well being they were fine. A little banged up…but alive."

" What do you guy's want with me?"

" Nothing really." Thatch said smiling happily.

" Then why am I here?"

" Pops sees potential in you."

" Potential for what?"

" For anything." Ace stared in confusion at Thatch. " Pops has the ability of seeing the potential in people who will go far in life."

" So he plans on using me for his own personal gain!"

" He isn't like that." Thatch said, hopping down from the railing, never once breaking eye contact with Ace. Ace took a small step backwards. " I suggest staying a while on the ship and finding out for yourself." With that he turned and left.

" Not like I have anywhere else to of."

A couple weeks passed by and Ace continued with his determination to defeat Whitebeard…even if it meant getting the shit kicked out of him.

CRASH!

Ace was flung through a wall as his latest attempt to defeat Whitebeard failed. He glared over at the old man, who had simply rolled back over in bed and continued to sleep.

" Hey Ace!" A drunk bystander yelled angrily. " It's to late at night to be doing that shit!"

" Yeah man!" Another yelled. " Give it a rest for today!" Ace stood up and dusted himself off. If Ace was anything it was determined. He would defeat Whitebeard and claim the title of Strongest in the World and become the next King of the Pirates…he had to.

" Hey Ace!" He glanced over toward Thatch, who sat with a group of men on the main deck of Whiteboard's flag ship, The Moby Dick. They were playing poker, clearly two of them were drunk. One of the drunk men had a blonde mohawk and sleepy eyes, another was dressed in traditional geisha clothing…complete with hair, make-up…the works. Next to him was a tall, dark-skinned, muscular…not drunk, his black hair was pulled back into cornrows. " Come play with us."

" No thanks."

" Come on, kid!" The large man said. " Take a break from trying to fight the old man for a while and rest up."

" Yeah, you're just gonna wear yourself out if you keep going after him like this." The geisha man said. " Then you'll make a mistake and get yourself killed!"

" Yeah! You don't wanna do that until you've gotten to meet Ai." Thatch said examining his cards carefully.

" Who?"

" You're right, Thatch!" The large man said in amusement. " He hasn't met Ai yet!"

" True shit, Jozu!" The blonde said, laughing loudly. " Ai'll be pissed if he dies before he meets her!"

" What are you jackasses talking about?" Ace snapped.

" The commander's are referring to ai, the only female member on the crew." A bystander said, leaning over a nearby railing, grinning down at him. Ace hadn't noticed that a crowd had gathered, watching the scene going on currently.

" She's been gone for a few months now. She's a real firecracker, Ace!" Another said, grinning down at him. " Isn't she due back sometime soon, Marco?"

" Now that I think of it…yeah, she should be." The blonde said.

" So what does it matter if I meet her or not?" Ace asked.

" You might not care but she will." Jozu said. " Damn it, Izo! Hurry up and pick a damn card already!"

" Shut up, asshole!" The geisha man grumbled, placing his card down. Marco grinned excitedly before slamming his card down.

" GIN!"

" WE'RE PLAYING POKER!" Izo yelled.

" I thought we we're playing Black Jack…" Thatch said in confusion.

" I thought we were playing Olde Maid." Joss said hurriedly.

" No wonder the playing table looks so confusing." One crew member.

'These guys are the commanders of Whiteboard's fleet.' Ace thought warily. 'They're complete morons! It's like being surrounded by a bunch of Luffy's!' He remembered how his little brother was constantly getting him into trouble and arguing with him about stupid things.

" So why is it important that I meet this Ai person?"

" Like we said it might not be important to you but it'd be important to her. You're kinda weird!"

" How am I weird?" The group shrugged in unison. " You jerks have no right calling anyone weird!"

" Hey man, we never said it was a bad thing!" Thatch said. " We were paying you a compliment."

" Yeah, you were just being mean." Marco said. Ace was about to reply when he felt the wind kick up and heard what sounded like a sneeze and a whooshing sound was getting louder and louder. He had not realized that everyone on deck had suddenly quickly vacated the premises.

" INCOMING!"

Ace looked up at the sound of a high-pitched feminine voice to see a blue and black blob falling towards him. " SHIT!" He yelled trying to get out of the way…he was not quick enough! The oh-shit face did not cover it.

SLAM!

Ace crashed face first into the deck of the Moby Dick as something collided with him. " I'M HOME!" A cheerful feminine voice said happily. A baby blue haired girl with green eyes came crashing down on him…changing his life as he knew it forever.