The first time Marco sees the Wanderer was after a shipwreck. As part of looking for salvage, they fish out provisions floating about in the sea. As the provisions are loaded into the central kitchen, his division starts opening up the crates in order to allocate their goods to different kitchens.

They open up a barrel, only to discover that there wasn't any food inside.

"What a nice nap that was!" A man stretched his arms out as his brother jumps away from the barrel, fearful of any weapons that he may carry. "Looks like I'm saved! I thought I was going to die too!"

All at the scene stared at him. Marco is more astonished at the fact that he didn't detect his presence even as he was inspecting his progress.

"Who are you?" The man digs his nose as he stares back at them.

"Who the heck are you!" Marco answers back, twitching an eyebrow. "Why would someone be coming out of a wine barrel!"

The man shrugs.

"Hmm, what was it? Meerkat? Margo? Aha! You're that Mango right?" He slams his fist onto his palm. "From the Whitebeard Pirates, right?" Marco feels his eyebrow rise further and further.

"IT'S MARCO! YOU HAVEN'T ANSWERED MY QUESTION! WHO THE HECK ARE YOU!"

"Keshishishi..I'm Coby!" The man guiltily whistles away as he saunters out of the barrel.

"Damn it!" Marco's frustration unleashes itself as he punches the man. Instead of avoiding that punch, the man allows Marco to put his fist on him...

...and Marco feels weak all of a sudden.

"What are you!" Marco pulls back his fist, feeling his strength return as he does so. The man rubs the spot where Marco had attempted to punch him.

"A wanderer of course! Keshishishi!"

The wanderer (Coby was definitely a fake name. He was sure of it.) proceeded to avoid the crew on most days, and accepts no invitation by Pops to be one of his sons. Contrary to expectation, he avoids most chores except the washing of dishes, which he does extremely quickly to anyone's surprise. When asked, he says,

"My nakama always complained I can't do most chores without messing them up, so I do the ones most related to eating! Keshishishi!"

Consequently, Thatch takes the opportunity to get to know him by cornering him near one of the division spaces.

"Your name isn't Coby, right?" The wanderer scratches his head, his eyes closed in thought.

"Nope! But he's a nakama! So I will always remember his name!" He answers, grinning like a loon. "I also had a swordsman, a navigator, a liar, an archaeologist, a shipwright, a doctor...Oh and a musician! The musician's important!"

"What happened to them?" 'Coby's' expression shuts off, and he starts singing Bink's Sake totally off key.

Thatch doesn't give up. Having persuaded Ace into stopping his attacks on Whitebeard, he thinks that he could woo the wanderer through his stomach, and sets a generous portion of food in front of him.

Surprisingly, the wanderer doesn't take the bait, and chooses to sip at some of the rum as well as indulge in a few pieces of meat before announcing he's done and off to spar with Ace.

Ace notices the new guy hardly likes to eat. In fact, Coby often skips lunch and dinner in favour of running up and down the deck.

There are times when Coby stares at him for a long period of time. Sometimes not noticeable, but sometimes it just doesn't add up, especially when he starts using his Devil Fruit Power.

It's like Luffy, but it's not. Instead of making use of elasticity, the newcomer uses Haki in his fist fights, and sometimes opts for a staff of some kind. The punches are way more accurate than his baby brother, but he can't imagine Luffy using odd elements such as stones to target his sparring partner's weak spots, or making use of multiple staffs in distracting his opponent. The newcomer fights just as unpredictably; his swings are often with the aid of gravity and his punches can sometimes come from unexpected points. It's almost enough to give a headache to any conventional pirate.

What's more, his use of Haki is combined with almost supernatural instincts. For example, he's able to tell the rough direction in which the ship is sailing even when he's below the deck. His knowledge of the islands around them is profound; he recognises the next location by the travelling time the ship takes.

"How do you know we're travelling to Sabody!" One of the navigators asks when the wanderer surfaces from below the deck.

"The wind/sea/seagulls/fish are telling me! Keshishishi!" He utters some nonsensical answer before proceeding to snore.

This wanderer continues his journey alongside the Whitebeard Pirates for several months, until Thatch finds a fruit. The devil fruit is a large, round, light purple fruit made up of many small teardrop-shaped components with swirl patterns, and green leaves sprouting from the top. Neither of the crew recognises it from descriptions of past fruits, thus Thatch is almost hesitant to eat it.

'What to do.' On one hand, the rule was that any brother who had found it was free to eat it, and the Devil Fruit would give its user an advantage in any fight. On the other hand, Thatch managed to get this far without eating right? Also, with Marco, Ace and other devil fruit users on board, someone needed to rescue them right?

So he hadn't noticed anything when Teach came down looking for a snack. His brother within Ace's division was incapable of cooking a good meal.

"You're lucky I was awake!" He snarks, his newly acquired Devil Fruit placed in his pocket, "Otherwise you would have to wait until one of the cooks turn up for duty tomorrow!"

"Haha, thanks brother!" Teach rubs his head bashfully. Thatch chuckles, and proceeds to look for dried noodles and cheese.

He feels something sharp pierce through his back, and he winces, thinking it's one of the knives someone accidentally left sticking out of the wall. Don't most knives enter the other away around?

Then he feels blood running down his thigh, and the heavy weight in his pocket no longer exists. He turns back to see Teach snatching his Devil Fruit and eating it.

He stares in disbelief, because this could not have just happened. His brother, who had fought with him, with them, had just stabbed him in the back.

"Teach... you..." He manages to cry, but Teach is now out of sight, and no one could hear him as he sinks down into the floor.

Save one.

Two hands attempt to staunch the wound while muttering assurances, and Thatch finds himself falling, falling, falling into darkness.