32 Not My Promise!!!
Chapter 32
Title: Not My Promise!!!
….
Bartolomeo looks at Ace with a serious look on his face. He can see that the person in front of him is strong, but none of that matters.
'My barriers are unbreakable, he can be as strong as he wants.' Reasons Bartolomeo, his angry look slips away and he smiles back at Ace. "Well, if you can defeat me then I and Desire will join your crew. If you can't, then you will owe me 100,000,000 B or become my subordinate."
"Oy! Bakalomeo, don't make decisions like that for me!!" Proclaims Desire. "I will kick your asś."
"Desire, you know I never lose. So don't worry. We will just become richer soon, hahahahaha..." Assures Bartolomeo as he sends a coy look towards Desire. She knows that Bartolomeo won't lose with his Devil Fruit.
"Wanna spar here? Or somewhere else?" Asks Ace with his hands in his pockets.
Bartolomeo shrugs at that. "This place is as good as any."
"Okay." Acknowledges Ace as he has an analyzing look in his eyes. 'Raw power won't work in this one. I need to use strategy against him.'
Fwish!
Ace disappears from his Bartolomeo' vision, the young man's eyes widen at this, not expecting Ace to be so fast. But instinct kicks in and he creates a barrier around him.
BOOOOM!!!
Then less than a second later a huge shockwave happens that rocks the alley like an earthquake hit it.
Bartolomeo's panicked look turns back into a smile and he sighs in relief.
"Tch!" Ace is annoyed by this, if he was a little faster he could have beaten him.
Fwish!
He disappears again from Bartolomeo's vision and this time the barrier man looks up and sees that he has an opening there.
Baam!
Immediately as he closes it he hears another shock pass through the alleys. Desire jumps back as she doesn't want to interfere in this fight.
'He is strong.' Reflects Desire. 'But Barrolomeo is stronger. His barriers are unbreakable, never has there ever been a crack in them.'
She has full confidence in Bartolomeo who laughs as he sees Ace struggle a little as he punches the barrier and even slashes at them.
"Ready to give up?" Asks Bartolomeo with a smug smile on his face. 'He is strong… I doubt I can take even one hit from him. His punches feel like cannon shots.'
*sigh* Ace lands on the ground again and stops punching the barrier. "So I was right, after all, fate has brought us together, you will be a perfect addition for my crew."
"Heh! Delusional idiot." Says Bartolomeo, he still doesn't attack Ace with his barrier though as he knows that if he does something like that he will have to let go of the protection around him. That would be the instant that Ace would KO him in less than a second.
Ace of course is not someone who believes in things like fate, destiny, or such. After all, to him, people die when they are killed. So with that in mind, he does something that he has prepared for this case. He has had a lot of time to think about this.
He clocks back his fist, covering it with haki… and he punches down on the ground with his full power.
BOOOOM!!!
A shock wave passes through the ground and it causes a small earthquake as the building around them starts crumbling down and Bartolomeo stumbles at this. Falling on his but and using his hands for support, but while he does so, he instinctively lets his fingers go back to normal… dissipating the barrier.
"Uh-"
Baam!
He can't even react as a fist covered in haki is all he sees before everything goes dark.
…
Desire looks at the scene in front of her as she stands atop a rubble of houses. Her face pales looking at Bartolomeo's unconscious body.
"YOU BASTARD!!!" Swears Desire, eyes filled with rage as she looks at the man responsible for even putting her in a pinch like this.
Ace only looks at her with a smile on his face and waves. "Yo~ new crewmate."
Veins appear on her forehead as Desire clenches her teeth. "Shut up freckles!!"
Immediately as she insults Ace, a depressing aura appears around him. He falls on his knees drawing circles with his finger… tears raining down his face as he hugs his knees to his chest.
"Uh…" Desire starts feeling bad at this instinctively. "I didn't mean it like that-... WAIT!! Why am I even feeling bad for a bastard like you!!!"
Somehow an even more depressing aura appears around Ace. "I don't deserve to live in this world. I wanna die now."
Desire looks at him with an uncomfortable look on her face. She didn't know that someone like him could get his feelings hurt like this.
"How could my own crewmate insult me like this." Whines Ace.
"I am not your crewmate!!" Exclaims Desire, back at being annoyed at him again.
"Oh, I see…" Says Ace while still looking at the ground with a sad look. "So you are just a liar, cheater, and untrustworthy woman who can't keep any of her promises."
Desire grabs a pipe from the rubble, an angry look on her face as she goes to attack Ace.
"Die you bastard!!" Yells Desire, as she swings her weapon at Ace. But the latter easily dodges this and her attack hits the unconscious Bartolomeo in the stomach.
"Guh!!!" The barrier man's eyes widen as he feels something hit him in the stomach. He is fully awake now.
She doesn't pay attention to him though as she swings at the 'depressed' Ace. But he seemingly dodges her attacks by 'coincidentally' rolling in the ground or stumbling on nothing.
….
Ten minutes later and she is breathing heavily, Ace now has a smile on his face. "Ya know, Smoker will be here in a second if ya don't stop this."
"Desire!!" Calls out Bartolomeo, causing her to stop mid-swing. She turns around and sees her childhood friend just looking at her with a serious look. "We made a promise… don't attack your captain."
"I didn't do sh*t!! You made a promise on your own!!" Exclaims Desire in annoyance.
"So what? You wanna make me go on my own word?" Says Bartolomeo, his hands now in his pockets.
"Tch!" Desire snorts in annoyance, but she still stops attacking Ace. She turns and looks at the man who still has a wise smile now, he seemed to be trying to fix his hat, not paying attention at all to the conversation between them.
This annoyed her to no end, but she takes a breath and says. "You… as long as you are a good captain I will follow you to the top. If I see that you stumble along the way, I will leave. I don't wanna follow a two-bit loser."
As she says that she turns around, and looks at the group of marines approaching.
"Of course." Says Ace, but this time, Desire's eyes widen in surprise. Even Bartolomeo is surprised as they both feel an oppressive feeling coming out of their new captain. "I am gonna stand at the top."
As soon as those words come out of his mouth, an invisible pressure flows out of him, and the marines that are approaching fall on the ground unconscious.
The new crewmates looked at him with shock, not even they could stand on their feet, instead, they were on their knees as Ace was the only one to stand up.
'W -What is this?!!' Wondered Desire as she looks at Ace.
….
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