When you first laid eyes upon the living legend that was Edward Newgate, you couldn't really understand where all the hype was coming from.

Sure, his ridiculous height advantage is usually something out of nightmares, but the way he carried himself through his age made it hard to be conscious of it.

And despite having shared the title of head honcho with Big Mom for the entirety of the east side of the country, he was much less abrasive and authoritative with his demands and proposals.

At that moment, your first impression was that of an aged man entering the twilight zone of his era.

You kinda regret letting appearances get the better of you now.

Because as of now, with the man himself no longer lounged in a couch and laughing away any opposition, you could really let it all truly sink in.

Whitebeard was unfairly tall, enough so that he could loom over you without any effort- or at least as long as he had his cane to keep his balance.

Said cane was looking more like a weapon for bludgeoning the closer you looked.

Still old and weathered, but something told you that the age hasn't done much to erode his iron fist yet, and the thought was suddenly terrifying.

"Gurarara! You're with Ace-boy's younger brother aren't you?"

"Yesh" you couldn't even register any fear from the accidental slur.

Nevertheless, Whitebeard seemed overall pleased with your presumed recovery to his sudden appearance.

"Hmm, not a bad choice you made there, though since you were a stray before then, I doubt that decision was made as a tactical one"

You winced under the mask, not knowing how to feel with the realization that he must've been listening in on your conversation.

"Well don't I feel special? Having all this attention from you guys..."

Whitebeard didn't laugh this time, "I understand a stray like you might not get it, but thoroughly reaffirming the characters I'm allowing an armistice with is something I take seriously"

You couldn't help but find his tone a little odd, but with so little to work off from you simply let the implications gloss over you.

A thin sheet of sweat was now coating your skin, making you want to hiss and shed the clothes off until you could breathe again- despite not being able to control your temperature or your hormones anymore.

Shit, this was really stressing you out.

"Well then do I pass the test? Or are you gonna bombard me with more badly hidden questions?"

One of the boys made a deep-throated cough from behind, sounding as if they were dismayed by your lack of tact or respect for their leader.

The giant actually laughed this time, thank God, you could only withstand that wordless glower for so long.

"You don't seem like a bad sort, or even that interested in politics.. but I do have a few more questions for ya, if you're willing, lass"

With an over exaggerated roll of the eyes, you crossed your arms and sat down against the balcony's rails, hoping to all the hells that the overabundance of sweat forming wouldn't make itself noticeable.

"Let's get this over with" the sooner you could get these guys off your back the better.

"That Charlotte brat said you were the one to inadvertently aid his coup?"

If you could still breathe, it would've choked, a stutter would've come along your nonexistent heartbeat.

Katakuri never had the chance to tell you in detail as to what kind of story he spun out to the other crews, that was never covered in the meeting.

"Yeah.. yeah that was me.." you eyed the older man wearily.

"Could you tell me in more detail as to how that came about?"

Oh fuck fuck fuck, you motherfucker-

"Ah.. well, back when... Big Mom had a few of.. our nakama as hostages, me and... and a few others snuck in as a rescue.. team.." the mounting stress was making it harder than usual to speak, and it made you extra conscious of your pronunciation.

"It was then that I.. I accidentally ran into Kata- Katakuri.. and I... I gave him a good lesson, one I guess.. that helped him figure out how to.. uh, kill his mom"

"A lesson?" Marco voiced skeptically.

You spoke briskly before your brain could even parse through the sudden panic to his suspicion or trip over your tongue.

"I don't look it, but I'm a.. really good combatant, we tussled a bit.. and.. and I managed to get him down.. we talked.. I guess he learned from that"

Whitebeard hummed in what you hoped was reluctant acceptance, and thankfully changed the topic.

"Combatant? With what kind of weapon?"

You had to take a moment to process that one, the older man spoke a bit faster that time, almost like he was suddenly in a rush, and with how worn out you were getting, your brain could only digest information so quickly.

"Just my.. um, fists.."

Without missing a beat Whitebeard fired another question, just as fast as the last, and you could feel your panic slowly rise when it slowly came upon you that you failed to process the question.

"Sorw- sorry, could yoouu.. um, repeat.. that?" You had to metaphorically put yourself in a chokehold to stop yourself from crying over that momentary slur.

Where were the others? Someone must've noticed that Whitebeard was missing from the ballroom.

"What did you say to the Charlotte boy to get through to that skull of his?"

Fuck it was getting so hot under that mask, your mouth was starting to water and it was getting so hot! Did you mention that already? It was so stuffy, weren't you outside?!

"Hey.. are you okay?" You jumped with a baneful hiss at the sudden feeling over someone touching you, someone who wasn't a nakama and someone who you definitely weren't comfortable with.

Marco instantly backed away from you with headlight eyes, and you were suddenly all too aware of the sweat flushing your body, the frigidness of your hands, the stiffness in your joints, the goddamn adrenaline practically racing through your bloodstream.

If this wasn't another ghoul equivalent of an anxiety attack you would be in deeper shit than you already were, because then this had to be death, you felt like you were dying again, but this time it was surrounded by all these strangers and they'd sooner put you out of your misery than actually help you if they knew what was really happening oh gods you were trapped you were going to get everyone in so much trouble-

"What's wrong with her?" Ace shot a look over to the older men with a distinct face of discomfort.

"I think she's having a panic attack"

"You mean like, here? Now? With us?" Ace stumbled back looking more and more unsettled.

"Hm, I thought she was acting a little too well put together for a stray.."

"Pops! You did this on purpose?!" Marco threw the older man a disapproving glare.

"Well, I noticed something wasn't right but.. nevermind, Ace-boy, hand me that water bottle would ya'?"

You thought you heard shuffling, like the rustling of tree leaves, or the crinkling of paper, but everything was just becoming too much-

Help me! Luffy! Katakuri! Kidd! Anyone! I didn't mean to fall apart! I'm sorry! I thought I could handle it I'm sorry please I'm sorry I'm sorry-

The thing that actually broke you out of your frenzied stupor was the sudden wet flooding in your ears.

Blood. Blood. You were bleeding you were under attack-

Your stomach roiled at the realization, especially when the messily cobbled together concoction of chemicals finally congealed and forced you past the edge and you couldn't handle it anymore-!

Tearing away from whatever was making you bleed, you practically launched yourself upon the balcony's railing and ripped your mask off before heaving up whatever you could out of your half-dead system.

Well, half heaving and half screaming.

The Whitebeards were practically mortified as you progressively grew more unhinged.

Newgate blinked down at the now empty water bottle with a shocked expression that shortly grew sour with frustration.

"Huh, that usually works.."

"Pops! She's fucking screaming!"

"I can see that, Ace"

Both of the younger men on the balcony only became even more perturbed at the sound of you beginning to hack up whatever was in your stomach.

"That does not sound good" Marco turned to watch your back practically throw itself into your heaves, only to wince each time with how awful it all sounded.

"Make her stop!" Ace looked near hysterical himself, very expressive with his clear discomfort in the situation.

"Just let her go through the motions you two, it's best not to try and interfere too much when someone undergoes a psychological breakdown.. especially a newly integrated stray"

Newgate's eyes narrowed in both suspicion and guilt.

He knew the presence of so many strangers and unspoken hostility would draw something out of you, but he wasn't expecting something so instantly dynamic considering how defensive you appeared to be.

However, something just didn't sit well with him in this picture.

He didn't say anything explicitly accusatory, and he made sure to keep his warnings veiled under implications.

So what on earth triggered such a volatile reaction?

And those noises..

Your heaving sounded beyond simple wretching, if he didn't know any better he thought he could hear your bones cracking against each other under the pressure.

When Marco tried his hand at comfort as well, you cried out with a hiss that sounded not pained but off, wrong somehow.

None of this sit well with him, there was obviously something he was missing here and that never resulted in anything good.

"Ace.. you and Marco keep your distance for a moment, I'll deal with this" at the end of the day however, this was his fault and you haven't done anything to earn such a breakdown.

Not paying any heed to whatever objections his sons had to voice, Newgate stepped forward and pressed his hand into your back.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Immediately upon the feeling of his touch, you whirled around with what could only be described as a yowl and hooked onto his wrist with your own hands.

Newgate suddenly realized why this all felt so off-putting and familiar to him.

The strength of your hands was nothing short of monstrous, and he knew that with just a bit more his wrist would probably be snapped in half under those freezing fingers.

For the first time without your face mask, you faced him fully with a hard, open-mouthed scowl, putting your teeth and jaws on full display in warning.

And in consequence the wound consuming the near entirety of one of your cheeks, strangely appearing like a very old scar.

"Ah.. she's turning"

This is not going to end well.