228 Chapter 228

228

Sir Crocodile's brow twitched hearing Miss All Sunday's reports. "So you are saying a Whitebeard pirate is fighting one of the Straw Hat pirates."

The woman nodded, Daz Bones didn't say anything but he looked a bit pissed.

"You did the right thing by withdrawing… the Whitebeard Pirates aren't someone you guys can go against," Crocodile said taking a drag from his cigar, his left arm giving a phantom pain hearing that name. The sand user tightened his jaw, remembering what had happened.

Whitebeard, he hated that man. But for now, it would be better for him to not engage the enemy. That would bring too much attention. And there should already be already a few marines there, so maybe they could handle it.

"They are also causing a lot of destruction in the lawless part of that town…" All Sunday said, as if to prove her point right at that exact moment the night sky lit up.

All of them looked at the small pillar of flame that was visible from here. Crocodile grunted, "That Fire Storm brat… leave him be. Same for the Straw Hat pirates, it seems they are not as easy as it seems."

Crocodile had gotten a few reports from the marines under his payroll. And he came to notice what happened at the G-3 base. It seemed for some reason they were spotted on that base. Meaning they shouldn't be here for at least another day. Good.

By then Mr. 2, Bon Clay, should be here and ready for the mission.

"We have to speed up our plans," Crocodile said.

Robin looked at him, "What do you have in mind?"

Crocodile grinned.

.

Kuina panted, her breathing ragged, multiple wounds were visible on her body. Almost all of them were shallow, but the large number of wounds showed how powerful Ace was. All of the wounds were shallow only because he was holding back.

He was also sporting some damage to his clothes. But he looked rather fine and fresh. "That technique of yours is quite amazing… But I guess it's a win for me." Ace said, smiling. "Why don't we end this here, before you get yourself hurt."

"N…" Kuina was about to refuse, but stopped when she saw something. With that, she sheathed her sword. "Okay, but you do have other things to worry about."

"Like who?"

"Like my captain…"

Ace frowned and looked back over his shoulder to see someone falling from the sky. The figure was tall, almost as tall as him, having a solid build of muscle. The said figure also had a large naginata coated with Haki, and Ace recognized him. His brother had changed so much, the fire logia grinned.

"Aaace!" His brother yelled with a wide smile.

"Luffy!" The fire user responded with his own smile, coating his own weapon with Haki.

Their weapons met in the middle, creating large sparks of red and black lightning, as both of their eyes bleed red.

"Shishishishi…"

"Ehahahahah…."

Fire on one end and wind on the other end blew any nearby buildings in the nearby area. Even Kuina had to unsheathe her sword and stab it into the ground so as to not get thrown away.

A wave of Conqueror's Haki spread outwards, knocking down anyone who was weak-willed, breaking any nearby glass and wood. And Kuina had just one thing to say. 'Monsters!' she smiled, even though she lost the fight with Ace, she earned something valuable in the fight. It wasn't perfect but it should be doable, until she learned Haki.

.

The ringing of a transponder snail could be heard from the office.

Purupurupuru… Purupuru... Purupuru… Kachak

"This is Captain Hina speaking."

"Hina. Have you gotten the reports?" A rough voice from the other end answered quickly without introducing himself.

"About Crocodile?" She asked. "Yes… Headquarters made it clear to clear out the civilians and stop the rebels if needed." She sighed, "This is a total mess."

"Yes," Smoker said, "I have made a decision… I will personally deal with Crocodile."

"What? Are you insane Smoker…? He's a Warlord!"

"And I'm a logia…" Smoker curtly replied, "If anyone could stop him, it would be me."

"You would be going against direct orders!" Hina said, "And you know what happened to Anchor?"

"Heh, when we joined SWORD we did leave out a letter of resignation on the table. I came to serve justice, and I won't just stand still while that monster destroys the country."

Hina bit her lips but nodded. She was mainly stationed here in Alabasta, Smoker had come mainly chasing after the Straw Hat Pirates. But it seemed things had changed. Now the White Hunter had a new target.

Then headquarters had informed the higher-ranking marines, or only those that Garp and Sengoku trusted about Crocodile's deeds. After the G-3 base incident, the old Marines were a lot more cautious about what news they shared.

So Hina and Smoker only knew what Crocodile was doing. Headquarters didn't specify how the Warlord would be dealt with. Only that the civilians should be cleared out if any fights break out. And if needed, help the kingdom to stop the rebels.

But that was it. They didn't know that the Straw Hats were going to deal with the situation. And so Smoker, seeing how bad in shape Alabasta was, he wanted to help.

People trusted the marines a bit more than pirates. And so Smoker wanted to use that as an advantage to face Crocodile head-on.

"Are you confident that you can take him on?" Hina asked.

"I'm not sure… but I will bring backup with me." Smoker said.

"And that would be…?"

"Me." Another voice came from the other side. It was from Popeye D. Anchor.

Hina gave a frustrated sigh, "Him… but he's not a marine."

Smoker laughed, "Well, after I pull this stunt I might not be either." He said, chuckling, taking a drag from his cigar. "But I have to do what is right."

"Heh, that sounds like some last words," Anchor said, grinning from the other side. "But if that's the case… then Hina, please tell Vice Admiral Gion that I loved her."

"Yes, as if you hadn't mentioned that to her multiple times already," Hina face palmed herself. "You guys are complete idiots, you know that?" She said, "But I will see what I can do. When will you guys strike?"

"First thing in the morning." Smoker said. "Also you will have to do us a favor… clear out the people in the area if the battle happens. We will go to Rainbase so the rest of Nanohana needs protection. Crocodile might not care about casualties, and even use the civilians to his advantage."

Hina sighed, "Okay, I will see what I can do." She was about to say more, when the door to her office opened.

A marine walked in with panic. "Captain Hina, 'Fire Storm' Ace is fighting the 'Fallen Hero' Luffy!"

"Why can't things be easier…"

———————

A/N: Ace has Enma. Surprise! Surprise!

Well, Zoro won't be getting Enma. He already has his Nozarashi. I gave it to Ace, cause it kind of made sense to me.

I might be wrong but Ace visited Wano maybe two times. (In my fic at least) And he was trained by Rayleigh. With how much good his father was with a sword. I think he might pick up one as well.

But at the same time he would be stubborn enough to not take a sword that he was technically named after.

Also, Ace is known as Firestorm Ace, because other than the fact that Ace is stronger than his canon counterpart, and uses both sword and fist.

He was also hard-headed enough to storm into Wano a second time. Also, he was strong enough to retreat after Kaido beat him. However, it might have something to do with Masked Deuce.

Also, I didn't like how most of Ace's crew had little to no feats on display. That's why I made Masked Deuce stronger, though he's more support-based rather then attack-based.

Anyway, the marines named him Ace, Fire-Storm. Because wherever he goes, he leaves a trail of destruction similar to a storm.

This is the Editor speaking: Keep in mind his editor did not support this decision. Tried to convince him with some other weapon, like the pipe like in Ace's childhood and Sabo, but Fallen was pretty adamant about the sword for Ace so I just gave up on it. Its cool idea though, even if I feel it doesn't fit Ace, I'll admit.