“What, you’re still holding that against me?”
“Twenty years ago, you tried the Grand Line for the first time. You needed food, water, and money, so you came here—your hometown—and pillaged the people’s belongings and destroyed their homes! I left the group because I couldn’t stand your ways. I settled down on the edge of the island, but I never forgot my part in that. I was unable to stop the evil deeds of my own son back then, and that’s why I have a responsibility to stop you now,” Wolf boomed. It was a voice of true anger, something we had never heard when Wolf lectured us for our mistakes.
“So…I take it you intend to stop me, Dad?” Bacca asked sarcastically.
“That’s right. You won’t ever ruin this town again.”
“Ga ha ha! Then that makes us enemies. We might have been on the same side once, but it doesn’t matter if you’re my own father. I will destroy anyone who dares to get between me and what I want!” Bacca lifted his hands, brandishing two maces. In response, Wolf removed a gun from his waistband.
“Bepo! Penguin! Shachi!” I called to the others. “We gotta get in there!”
“Yeah!”
We made a beeline for Wolf and Bacca, but a crowd of Bacca’s pirates blocked our path.
“Who do you think you are?!” the flunkies barked.
“Shut it and fight, man,” I shouted, avoiding the slash of the first pirate who came at me and giving him a chop to the spine that knocked him clean out.
“Aye aye!” called Bepo.
“Hiyaaa!” exclaimed Shachi.
“Hwachaaa!” grunted Penguin, as they each threw in some hand-to-hand combat of their own, wreaking havoc on the pirates. These guys were no match for us.
Our real problem is Bacca and his enormous sumo wrestler pal.
“Feast your eyes on this! Stoppy Stopper, fire!” Wolf shouted, setting loose one of his inventions to attack Bacca. It was a light-ray gun he’d shown us back at the house. One shot could blast a brick wall into dust. But Bacca easily avoided its ray and got behind Wolf.
“You’ve grown soft, old man. It’s so obvious where you’re aiming and when you fire. Your feeble reflexes will never let you land a shot on me!” Bacca’s heavy mace struck Wolf on the head, and the old man toppled to the ground and went still.
Don’t do it; don’t rush! It took all my self-control to keep me from leaping out in front of Bacca. The old man wasn’t so flimsy that he’d drop dead from a blow like that.
“Law! It’s all right, he’s just knocked out!” cried Penguin, who had rushed to Wolf’s side. I would’ve liked to examine him myself, but there was no time for that.
“Bepo, Shachi! You guys take out the others! I’ll get the boss!” I told them.
“Sure thing!” they replied. I faced Bacca myself.
Up close, he’s actually really intimidating. He was skilled enough at fighting to easily dispatch Wolf, who was no slouch himself. I had to be very careful. I intuited that range was going to be crucial in this fight; I could see that the two maces he carried were extremely heavy and powerful, but Bacca swung them like they were twigs. It would be very important for me not to step into their range.
“What’s this, another weirdo? Who the hell are you?” he demanded.
“I’m with that old man you knocked out,” I said, keeping my eyes trained on his.
“Ga ha ha! You’re with my dad? Then that means you’re my enemy, too!” he said. Before the words had left his mouth, Bacca sent one of his maces hurtling toward my face. It came dreadfully fast, but somehow I managed to avoid it and picked up a large brick to throw at him.
“That means nothing to me!” Bacca crowed, deflecting it easily.
That was just what I wanted him to do. The brick was intended to create an opening for me to get closer. He assumed that I was unarmed, but that was all part of my plan. I’d snuck a metal pipe I found on the street behind my shirt. That was my real weapon.
“Take this!” I yelled, pulling it loose and swinging as hard as I could at Bacca from close range.
I’ve got him. He can’t possibly dodge this one. But the pipe swished through the air. What happened? It was impossible. The blow should have split his skull where he stood, and yet the swing hit no resistance. I didn’t even graze him.
“Did you think you had me beat, boy? You’re soft as a baby!”
I’d left myself completely open to attack in the aftermath of my huge swing. Bacca’s mace buried itself in my torso. I flew away and landed on my back.
“Law!” shouted Penguin.
“I’m fine. It’s nothing,” I lied. The damage from the mace was significant, and I could feel my knees trembling as I tried to stand. I couldn’t let my opponent realize I was affected. I had to pretend that I was totally unfazed by it, so that he didn’t pile on again on right away.
“Is that the best you can do? You don’t hit any harder than the boars in the forest,” I taunted.
“Well, at least you talk a big game, kid!”
“Captain, don’t waste your time dealing with that kid. This is a job for me, Connie Boakeno! I’ll snap his spine in two for you!” Shouting from his captain’s side was the sumo wrestler, who had been at the edge of the scrum just moments ago.
“Nah, I’ve got this one, Boakeno,” Bacca replied. “I don’t like the look in this kid’s eyes. I’m gonna kill him myself. You just hold back the townspeople with the others.”
“Bya ha ha! Whatever you say, sir.”
“All right, kid. Let’s pick up where we left off…” Bacca charged then, and I was waiting for him. At the last possible moment I dodged, swinging my metal pipe at his shoulder as a counterattack. The timing was perfect. There was no way he could evade this one.
But it didn’t hit him.