Chapter 43 - Rivals… 

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Chapter 43

Title: Rivals… 

…

While Ray and the others were fighting their own battles and threatening each other. Zoro, who had gotten lost on the way to the hospital, had reached a snowy and cold area close to an uninhabited part of the island with a small lake in the middle.

But he wasn't alone, as Ace was there with his usual clothing and covered in bandages. Max too was wearing only swimming trunks, they were both meditating in the cold. 

"Heh, I don't even feel the cold," bragged Ace.

Max on the other hand only had a small, almost unnoticeable smirk on his face. "Said the guy who got beaten by me easily once, and the next time my subordinate defeated him just as easily as I did in Sabaody Archipelago."

"Hey! Those times don't count!" Ace refutes, knowing that while not intentionally, he had been caught off guard by both of them. Because in the 2nd time against Raynare, he hadn't been unprepared for her attack. Though, she did fight him efficiently and took care of his advantages quickly. Putting him in the air where he can't fight was a disadvantage for him. Also, his flames seemed to not affect Raynare too much due to her encasing her limbs in Haki before hitting him.

By the time Ace had worked out a proper strategy to fight, it had already been too late as Raynare's physical attacks had taken a toll on him.

"Ya know if you fight Blackbeard like that. Then you will undoubtedly lose." Max clarified, he looked at Ace seriously. His face showed that what he spoke, he believed to be fact. "I have fought Blackbeard and defeated him. But doing so wasn't done through my raw power or a straight head-on fight. Because then even I would have lost." 

Ace clenched his fist, knowing if compared in raw physical strength Max was way above him and considered monstrous. 

"Then what should I do? Just let him go even though he killed a comrade?" Ace asked while looking at the ground angrily. 

Max shrugged. "I dunno man. I am not all-knowing, even if you fought him then you could still lose. Just telling you to be careful and explain how the man's Devil fruit works so you aren't caught off guard. You should also train your Armament Haki till it can at least harden. That could offer you extra protection and help you win the fight."

Ace sighed and looked at the small frozen lake. Not knowing what to do, after all, he didn't want to just go and fight Blackbeard and lose. 

Max on the other hand only looked at the young man pitifully. 'He will probably lose. Blackbeard is strong and even had his crew with him, which means that even in the worst-case scenario. He can escape Ace after the fire user has defeated him.'

*cough* 

A fake cough brought their eyes into a shivering Zoro. "Do any of you have a jacket? It's cold as hell here. Also, where is the main hospital?"

Max blinked a couple of times, not even knowing what to say. "The Main Hospital is literally on the opposite side of the island. How the hell did you get here?"

He knew that in the anime and manga Zoro had a bad sense of direction. He had thought that at least the thing might have been exaggerated… but holy hell. Max was impressed at how bad someone's sense of direction was.

"Bahahaha!!" Ace on the other hand laughed out loud. "What a moron!"

This annoyed Zoro, making the swordsman pull out his swords. Ace waved him off. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to offend you. Hahahahaha!! *cough* *cough* hahaha!"

The fire user was on the ground as he couldn't stop himself from laughing. Max's lips twitched, but unlike Ace, he was able to hold in his laughter. "Ignore the laughing idiot. Care to join us in some meditation on the ice?"

Zoro contemplated joining them but shook his head. "Maybe another time, I need to see my sick friend and see if she gets better."

Max got up. "Okay, I will help you back. Do you know how to fly?"

"What? Obviously not." Zoro answered, after all, humans didn't have wings to fly. 

"Welp, then gotta throw you there," said Max casually.

Fwish!

In an instant, he was in front of Zoro before the green-haired man could react. He grabbed the swordsman by his face and threw him towards the opposite side of the island. 

Zoro's body broke the sound barrier through the air as he was thrown like a bullet out if gun.

"Hmmm~ that throw should be around the hospital… or at least hit one of the ships… hopefully?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Ace asked, looking at his rival as if he was a mad man.

Max shrugged. "Hey man, I always wanted to try that. And our new green-haired friend seemed strong enough to handle it. Don't worry, he won't die… probably."

"That uncertainty in your voice doesn't give me confidence!" Ace shrieked. 

"Listen, Ace, living is risking it all. Even if it's your life." Said the newly appointed King. "Though in this instance it isn't my life I am risking."

Ace, on the other hand, sighed, disagreeing with Max was useless as he would weasel his way out of the situation and in the end, make you sound like the bad guy. He had done it countless times to him already and they had known each other about a day now. "Anway, wanna race? Let's go and see if the man you threw is still alive."

"Sure." Max fastly agreed and already started using <Geppo> to fly there. Ace smirked and created a ring of fire around himself that slowly morphed into wings on his back and then he released fire out of his hands to propel him in the air.

Ace had developed this technique due to seeing his weak performance when he was mid-air. The strategy Raynare had used to beat him wouldn't work anymore. Even Max was impressed by this. 'Ace… this guy really is talented as hell.'

Since <Geppo> was just kicking off the air, it didn't match Ace's genuine flight and propelling ability. So the fire user easily caught up to Max. 

"Hahaha, use your Devil Fruit Max! Let's see who is faster." Ace bragged as he passed him.

Max was unbothered by this and just used <Shigan> (Finger Pistol) and an air bullet hit Ace in the arm. This caused him to stop using fire in one arm and it disoriented the fire user as he plummeted into the ground in a swirling motion.

Booom!

Ace crashed into a snowy mountain below. "You fùcking cheater!" 

But Max seemed unbothered by this as he just flew off alone. "Damn, I guess I am faster."

"I heard that you bastard!" Ace yelled out.

…

It didn't take long for Max to reach the port town and see that Zoro had crashed into one of the houses and the guards had surrounded the place.

As he landed on the ground. The guards looked at him and the captain amongst them came forward. "Your grace! This man just fell from the sky and landed on the house. At least that is what the witnesses said."

"Don't worry, I know. Some criminal was trying to get on the island and this man fought him bravely and got thrown across the island. Again, don't worry, I took care of the scumbag." Max explained to them.

"As expected of the King!" said the guard captain proudly. The other people gathered also looked at Max with admiration and whispered amongst each other.

Max put a hand on the guard captain's shoulder and nodded. "Good job for taking care of this while I wasn't here. I will take it from here."

Zoro was half-conscious during this and couldn't help but swear at Max in his head. The King though picked up the green-haired swordsman and looked at him pitifully. "You seem heavily injured. I will take you to the hospital, don't worry."

'You are the cause of them! Don't act all innocent now!' Yelled Zoro internally, though he couldn't speak due to his heavy injuries.

____

When he went to the hospital, Max entered the room which Ray was in and he had a bloodied-up Zoro in his arms. Once he saw his subordinate with a scalpel at Nami's throat and the rest of the Strawhats on guard, he titled his head. "Is this a bad time?"

____