24 Defend
Ace stared at the drink that was handed to her. She looked at Luffy who grinned at her.
"C'mon, drink it! It's pretty good!" Luffy gave her a thumbs up. Ace gulped and picked up the small glass cup that had the drink in it.
She held it with both hands as she stared at it. Suddenly, a dark shadow covered her eyes and she started gulping down the drink.
Her eyes sparkled and she moaned in delight. She quickly gulped it all down and slammed the glass cup onto the wooden countertop.
She looked at Luffy who smiled at her. "Is it good?" He asked. Ace looked away.
"It's alright I guess." She grumbled. Luffy cheered and grabbed her hand again.
"C'mon, I'm gonna give you a tour of the village!!" Luffy shouted excitedly before dragging Ace outside of the bar. Makino looked at the two children with a smile on her face.
"Bwahahahahaha!!!! They're having so much fun they didn't even notice I was sitting here!!" She looked at Garp who was laughing loudly.
"It looks like it. Your plan worked, Garp-san." Makino commented. Garp gave her a thumbs up.
" I'm not a Vice Admiral for nothing, Makino! Bwahahahahaha!!!!"
.
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Ace was brooding while Luffy was giving her a tour of Foosha Village. She didn't know why, but she wanted to hear him speak more.
"Ace. What's your dream?" He suddenly asked. Ace was stumped, she didn't expect this sudden question. She had an answer, but to be in the spotlight made it disappear for some unknown reason.
"I'll say mine first! My dream is to find the One Piece and become The King Of The Pirates!! I also wanna start a new era! Like Gold Roger did!! " Luffy claimed. Ace was stunned.
" That's so many things. Can you even do that?" She asked.
"That's why I'm training right now, Ace. I'm preparing for the future! " Luffy answered. Ace smirked and puffed out her chest proudly.
" I wanna set out and be a pirate too! I wanna become a famous pirate and prove that my life is worth something! " Ace declared proudly. Luffy held out his fist.
" Then it seems we have something in common! Let's work together so we can accomplish it! " Luffy offered. Ace looked at his fist.
"Eh, why not? You seem like a cool guy. " Ace muttered and they fist bumped each other. Luffy grinned.
" Yes! So does that mean you're my friend now?"
"Sure." Ace answered nonchalantly.
"Well, look what we have here? Thieves working together."
Ace and Luffy looked in front of them and saw a large group of armed men. The leader of the men pointed at Ace.
" You're that kid who stole my cash." The man said. Ace narrowed her eyes.
" You know these guys Ace? " Luffy asked while getting ready to square up with them. Ace nodded.
" That guy is Porchemy of the Bluejam Pirates. I stole money from him. And I'm never telling you where they are, bastard!! " Ace shouted at Porchemy. Luffy studied Porchemy's features.
Porchemy was a very large man with long whitish blue hair, narrow eyebrow-less eyes, and a broad chest with an open red, ruffle-edged vest.
He had tattoos on his left bicep and wore an earring on each ear. He also wore a yellow sash with stripes around his waist and a belt over it. He wore regular pants and boots. He was seen carrying a large sword as well.
"The Bluejam Pirates have a bounty of at least 17,700,000 Belly. That Porchemy dude has a bounty of 3,400,000 Belly. I read that in the book of bounties." Luffy whispered to Ace who smirked.
" Bounties don't mean shit, Luffy." She replied.
"Well I did kill Higuma who has a bounty of 8 million Belly. And he wasn't a challenge either, so I guess you're right." Luffy grinned sheepishly. Ace looked at him with a surprised expression.
"You're the guy who killed him and kicked his bandit crew's ass?"
"Yup!"
"You're insane."
"Thank you. Shishishishishi!!! " Luffy laughed. Ace groaned. Porchemy growled and unsheathed his large sword.
" Enough!! One more chance, brats! Tell me where the money is, or you're gonna get it! " Porchemy pointed the sword at them. Luffy shrugged.
" Well I don't even know where it's located so.... " Luffy looked at Ace who snorted. Ace then looked at Porchemy and grinned broadly. Luffy swore he just saw Gold Roger standing behind her as she grinned at Porchemy.
Ace gave Porchemy the middle finger, which angered him. "That's it!! Kill them all!!!" Porchemy shouted, the armed men behind him roared and started charging towards them.
"Nuh uh!!" Luffy shouted before running towards them while stretching his arm back. Ace looked on in awe as she saw Luffy's arm stretch.
"Gomu Gomu no....."
Luffy stopped in front of a man who raised his machete up high. Luffy's grin broadened.
"BULLET!!!!*
*BAAM!!!!*
The stretched arm was thrown towards the man's stomach. It slammed into his solar plexus. The man flew back and fell unconscious as he landed on the ground.
Luffy looked at multiple men charging towards him. He put his right hand on his cutlass' grip. And when they got close enough, he struck.
*SHING!!!!*
*PSSSH!!!!*
The men had large cuts on their chest as they ran past Luffy and fell down to the ground unconscious. Suddenly, a man behind Luffy jumped up while swinging down his machete.
*BOONK!!!!*
The man was hit in the back of the head by Ace's metal pole. He fell down unconscious while Ace landed beside Luffy.
"So you finally got in the mix." Luffy grinned at her. Ace rolled her eyes and they looked at the remaining men surrounding them.
"I just don't want you to get beaten up." Ace replied before she and Luffy both assumed their battle stances.
They were back to back while looking at their opponents with a serious expression on their faces.
"Haa!!" The pirates raised their respective weapons and started charging in towards the kids.
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"Ugh!" Ace threw away the last person of the group of armed men and looked at Porchemy who was shaking in fear.
"Run away!!!" Porchemy shouted cowardly and started running away. Luffy narrowed his eyes.
"Oh no ya don't!!" Luffy stretched out his arm that started wrapping around Porchemy. He then started pulling, pulling Porchemy back towards him and Ace.
Ace jumped on Luffy's back and leaped towards Porchemy. She swung her metal pole towards his face.
*BAAAM!!!!*
The pole struck Porchemy cleanly in the jaw, breaking it. Luffy let go of Porchemy who tumbled on the ground.
Porchemy groaned in pain snd opened his eyes and screamed in fear. Luffy was pointing his flintlock at his head while pointing his cutlass at his neck.
Ace was getting ready to swing his metal pole to his balls. "Tell us where the rest of the Bluejam Pirates are Porchemy, or say goodbye to your future generation! " Ace threatened as Luffy put his finger on the trigger.
" A-alright!! I'll tell you!! D-don't kill me!!! "
" Spit it out then!! "
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" Gray Terminal is your base huh? Alright then." Ace whispered. Luffy grinned.
"Say goodbye to your free life, bozo! " Luffy shouted before knocking him out by slamming the flintlock onto Porchemy's neck.
Porchemy slumped down and laid on the ground. Luffy and Ace grinned at each other before giving each other a high five.
"You fought really well, Ace!" Luffy complimented. Ace smirked back.
" You're not so bad yourself, Luffy. " She replied. Suddenly, a giant shadow towered over them.
They looked to see it was Garp grinning at them. "So, I leave you alone for ten minutes and this is what I find. Ace! What have you roped Luffy into?" Garp asked her. Ace gulped.
"Nothing!"
"Exactly! These guys just attacked us out of nowhere!" Luffy replied. Garp laughed while snorting at the same time.
" Bwahahahahaha!!!! You two can't lie to save your life! Whatever! I won't ask more questions! Lemme just.... " Garp grabbed Porchemy's body effortlessly.
" I'll go cash in his bounty and send these chumps to jail. Wait in the bar and don't go anywhere, got it?!" Garp asked them with a serious face on. Ace and Luffy nodded repeatedly.
"Yes gramps!!!"
To be continued...
