“I pulled…’em out…sucker…”
“Huh? Pulled what—” Dorrow started, glaring down at me. Then he noticed something was wrong. “My fuel tanks?!”
The tubes attaching the flamethrowers to the fuel tanks at his sides were disconnected. The liquid was now seeping out and covering his clothes.
I hadn’t just been clinging on for dear life. I had grabbed the tubes supplying his weapon with power and wrenched them free. Without any fuel to shoot through the flamethrowers…
“Tsk!”
Dorrow clicked his tongue. The jets of flame from his weapons were rapidly weakening. And even worse for him, another fire was pushing back the stream, getting closer and closer.
It was Ace.
Ace’s fist slammed into Dorrow’s face. Blazing fire enveloped his head.
“Aaagh!”
“Hang in there, Deuce!” he said, helping me up. But a moment later, his body was floating off the ground. Dorrow had a hand around Ace’s neck and was lifting him up. He swept aside the flame as though batting away a fly. He was perfectly unharmed.
The punch had landed. But Dorrow smiled it off, totally unaffected. And strangely, although Ace had turned into flames right then, the man continued to grip him around the neck anyway.
“Is this…Haki…?” Ace said, grimacing.
Haki.
I’d heard that word—it was the name of a subconscious power within people, which could be drawn upon after long, arduous training. Many of the mightiest members of the Navy could wield the power of Haki. Especially strong Haki would easily overpower the abilities of a Devil Fruit. For example…by making one capable of grabbing fire with their bare hands.
“Fire Fist Ace…do not trifle with me. Your cheap little flames cannot stop me. Pirates like you are a dime a dozen in the New World.”
He lifted Ace by the neck, his grip as strong as a vise. Ace struggled and his limbs flopped.
“You don’t have what it takes to go on from here. Your fun little days in the pirate business are over—I’ll see to that. The strength of justice is putting you into early retirement!”
“Heh! You put children in harm’s way…and you talk…about justice?!” Ace grunted, writhing in pain.
“No, you’re wrong. I didn’t put the children in harm’s way. You did that, Ace,” Dorrow growled in his deep voice. “This only happened because there were pirates here! Do you understand that, Ace? The children suffered because you were here. I am only doing my job—capturing pirates—to the best of my ability. But you can’t say the same. You’re not supposed to be alive. Your very existence causes people who have committed no sin to live in fear. You must accept that.”
Ace was silent. His resistance began to wane. I didn’t miss the dark shadow that passed briefly over his features.
“Crazy…bastard!” I shouted, and went into another coughing fit. I didn’t have the strength to stand yet. “Don’t…listen to him, Ace! He’s…wrong!”
But Dorrow’s powerful voice drowned me out. “If it weren’t for you, no one would have this misfortune. Am I wrong? If not for pirates, I would have no reason to go around setting things on fire.”
Ace had given up struggling. His very life was hanging on the brink at this moment.
“It’s…not true…is it, Vice Admiral?” Isuka said, all of a sudden. She had returned from helping the children escape. “I thought it was the pirates…who set my village on fire…” There were tears in her eyes. “And then…you…saved me…”
“Of course I will save a wounded child right before my eyes. I am on the side of justice, after all.”
“Then, my parents…”
“What are you going on about, Ensign Isuka? Some sacrifices are necessary to properly carry out justice. You know this is true. Why would you get all worked up about the loss of a few civilians here and there?”
Isuka crumbled on the spot. She put her hand to her mouth, holding back her cries, tears dripping from her cheeks. To Dorrow, they were just a few meaningless sacrifices, no big deal. But to Isuka, this meant the loss of her parents, and the village where she was raised. It was a cruel, ironic end to the shining image of justice she’d adhered to since that traumatic childhood incident.
With Isuka’s sobs in my ears, I got to my feet in quiet anger. “Dorrow, you called yourself? If I were you, I wouldn’t make Ace too angry.”
I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth. The flames were already surging from Ace’s body again. Power returned to his eyes.
“What do you mean? I told you, flames this feeble mean nothing to…”
Suddenly Dorrow paused. The fuel staining his clothes was on fire. Ace did not hesitate to release his own fire on the fuel tanks.
“You rat!” Dorrow shrieked.
He exploded—the fuel tanks burst right next to him. Ace was blasted free, then got to his feet and headed slowly back toward the man.
“Gah… You…miserable…” Dorrow hissed, standing unsteadily.
Ace stared into his face, unfazed by the force of the blast or the wounds he sustained from the tank’s shrapnel. “Perhaps my flames can’t hurt you because you can use Haki. But,” he said, raising a fist, “Haki can’t extinguish the flames of rage.”
Dorrow punched back. They traded blows, power against power.
“Dammit! Why…why won’t you go down?!”
The larger man began to fatigue. Ace’s punches were doing serious damage to Dorrow now.
“Impossible…how?! Unless…you, too…” Shock entered his eyes.
“You mocked him and underestimated him,” I said quietly. Dorrow knew too little about Ace. He didn’t know that Ace, regardless of his powers and abilities, was simply a tremendous fighter—and that he was continuously growing stronger through battle.
“Gaaah!” Dorrow stumbled after one of Ace’s punches. The blows were completely overwhelming him now. “Impossible… How…how?”
He was out of breath, his face twisted with pain.
“How can you use Haki?!”
“How should I know?!”
Flame burst from Ace’s arms. With fire as the propulsion driving the thrust of his fists, they became like shooting stars with fiery tails. And this comet was not going to burn up before it hit Dorrow. Their fists crossed one another.
Dorrow’s fist pounded Ace’s face. The impact was strong enough to make a sound, and Ace’s jaws clenched. His legs quavered. But…
“I really…don’t…like you…”
It was Dorrow who collapsed. He had taken a ferocious punch to his own jaw.
“That’s funny…I was just thinking the same thing,” said Ace to the unconscious officer. Then he faltered. I rushed to offer him support. Moments ago Ace had been giving me his shoulder, and now the roles were reversed.
“You took down a Navy vice admiral. That’s impressive.”
“Who, that guy? Nothing to brag about…” Ace smiled, panting heavily.
“Let’s get back to the ship before the Navy surrounds it,” I urged, but Ace looked hesitant.
The blaze was already dying down around us. Fairly soon, the slums would be back to their regular state.
The only thing that wouldn’t be able to stay the same was Isuka.
When Dorrow had chosen to fight Ace, he’d thrown aside the coat with the word “Justice” emblazoned upon it.
And Isuka had rushed to save the lives of the children, bearing that word herself.
That was her answer.
Under ordinary circumstances, no one could be more suited for the Navy than her. But now her reality was a little different. Perhaps there was no place for her in the Navy, I thought. Her entire reason for enlisting had just crumbled into dust around her.
She’d been betrayed by what she believed in, and she slumped onto her knees in absolute dejection, her head hanging down. We couldn’t just leave her in this state.
“Isuka…come and stay on my ship!” Ace offered suddenly. “I’m not going to make you into a pirate, of course. You can be a bounty hunter. You’re tough, and the job’s just right for you, isn’t it? Then you can keep chasing after me. And we’ll be on the same ship.”
Ace reached his hand out to her. Isuka wiped her tears, sniffled, and smiled.
“You idiot… Why would a bounty hunter and her target join hands, Fire Fist?”
“Good point.” Ace grinned. Instead, he clenched his hand shut. “Let’s go.”
The three of us rushed off through the town of floating bubbles.