(One Piece) Book of Oneshots and Such

Taller Than Titans

(Whitebeard Pirates X Reader) Whitebeard and his crew hear rumors of a powerful monster guarding a hoard of treasure, this, combined with their utter boredom, inspires a competition. Who can best the beast first and get the gold? But of course, nothing in the Grandline is that simple.

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"A monster?" Marco quirked his brow in uncertainty, however, seeing how quickly Ace and Thatch's attention was stolen by the simple claim, knew where this was going to end up nonetheless.

It wasn't like he had anything else to do anyway.

"That's right! Not too far from here is an island home to a ferocious monster! Many pirates have gone to collect it's hoard- but none have come back to tell the tale!"

Ace leaned back and grinned, childlike and full of mischief, without a single sign of caution whatsoever, "does anybody around here know what this monster looks like? Or what about the treasure?"

The simple bartender shook his head, "nobody alive's seen that thing.. or made it to the treasure" of course, what was served as a frightening warning, only worked as an encouragement for those two.

"Why don't we go see this monster for ourselves?" Thatch gave the fire user a playful grin, and Ace returned it, both knowing full well that they shared the same brain cell in these kinds of situations.

Turning to Marco, the blonde was already waving them off as they charged ahead, most likely to convince Pops where they were going to be heading next.

Staying behind, Marco leaned over his empty drink and fished out a small bag of beli.

"So if nobody's seen this monster, how do you know it exists?" The bartender looked caught off guard by this question, but other than that, didn't seem perturbed.

The man shrugged his shoulders as he collected the money, "word of the monster first came to this town a couple months ago, a crew came here looking near death, talking about barely escaping that island and the monster alike"

Marco pursed his lips and leaned closer, eyes narrowing in suspicion as he spoke pointedly, "I thought you said nobody's seen it, yoi"

The bartender frowned, "I said nobody alive.. the crew succumbed to their injuries the night after, and that was the last time somebody's managed to come back.." Marco felt a lump of dread go down his throat.

After that he asked the bartender the exact name of the island, accepted some advice on how to reach it, and left for the Moby Dick.

By the time he reached the deck, the whole crew was ecstatic, everyone was downright eager to take on this monster and possibly get some loot- in fact, he passed a few people making bets and establishing teams already.

Taking his place beside his father's seat, Marco watched his excitable brothers work at double the pace, trying to speed up their departure at any chance they got.

"What's wrong my son?"

The blonde looked up at Whitebeard with a straight face, watched the concern dance in his father's eyes just a moment longer than usual, before ducking his eyes back down to watch his siblings some more,

"I dunno.. I just have a feeling that something's not quite right with this whole thing, yoi"

Whitebeard nodded, but didn't share the same doubtful expression as his first commander, "aye, I agree, something's off about it.."

The older man grinned, leaving Marco at a loss for words, "however, whatever it is, it doesn't seem bad enough to deter a well needed adventure, don't ya think brat?"