Chapter 150

Ace, Sabo, and Ken have surrounded the disguised man and are getting ready to attack.

"How about we make a deal?" asked the hooded man, but all he got as an answer was a sword slash. He easily destroyed the slash with one of his own.

"Flame Burial!" said Ace. The air around the hooded man started making weird sounds and suddenly caught on fire. The fire surrounded the hooded man, and his hood started catching fire. The three brothers looked up and saw an old man standing in the air with a white gi. It was the hooded man. He took off his black hood and moved out of the fire.

"I should have known that you had awakened your fruit. It seems like I should get a little more serious and kill all of you right here and now." As the old man said that, an enormous pressure pressed down on the three brothers.

"I knew that the 5 Elders would be strong, but you have exceeded my expectations," said Ken with an unamused face.

"So you knew all along. Then there is no need to keep us this disguise." The old man took off the mask and put on his glasses. "Do you mind telling me how you knew?"

Ken stayed quiet and embedded Shusui with Haki. He crouched down and closed his eyes.

"Thunderclap." Ken appeared far behind the old man, and blood flew into the air.

"Ken!" screamed Sabo and Ace.

"Cough, cough, stay back. Don't give him a chance to recover," said Ken. Ace and Sabo were hesitant, but they still went after the injured old man.

In that attack, Ken managed to cut the old man on his chest, but the old man also managed to give Ken a cut from his chest to his left shoulder.

'Shit, he is probably a better swordsman than me, maybe even Mihawk. I used all my speed in that one attack, but even though I surprised him, he still managed to counter. But that's not all; I could feel something weird entering my body when he cut me. I luckily managed to push it out with Haoshoku Haki. I should try and find out what that was, but I already have a hunch,' thought Ken.

Ace and Sabo were doing their best to attack him, but he either dodged or blocked it. Ken was watching the fight, trying to make a plan.

Ace created a fire sword and swung it at the old man. He managed to easily block it and was trying to push Ace back.

"Fire Breath!" Ace opened his mouth and shot flames out of it, towards the old man's face. The old man immediately disappeared from there, but Sabo was already waiting there for him. Sabo was standing behind him and stabbed his spear through the old man's back, making him cough blood.

The old man immediately used Geppo and Soru to move forward and get Sabo's spear out of his body. Sabo wanted to go for another attack when he suddenly got stabbed in his gut. He had somehow appeared before Sabo without anyone realizing it.

"Argh!"

The old man took out his sword and slashed towards his neck, but before he could make it, a blinding light appeared, and the old man got hit by lightning. He immediately backed away and looked at the newcomer, Deuce.

"Shouldn't you be tending to Vlad?" asked Ace?

"I have done what I can, but something seems to be interfering with his recovery, so I came here to get some answers," said Deuce.

"There is no need to ask him anything. I have already figured it out. It is his sword, Shodai Kitetsu," said Ken. The old man looked surprised but quickly got his composer back. "It is a Supreme Grade cursed sword. When I got cut, I felt like something weird was entering my body, but I managed to easily dispel it. So after we kill this guy, I can go and dispel that curse."

"That makes things way easier. Then I will help end this battle quickly," said Deuce. Lightning suddenly encased Deuce, making his hair stand up straight, and it gave him a white and blue hue. "Lightning Disruption." A wave of lightning suddenly dispelled from his body, and the hue around him completely disappeared.

The old man suddenly froze, and the next second, his right arm and sword flew into the air. Ken grabbed the sword and hilt while Ace turned the arm to ashes.

"ARGH, you damned brats!" screamed the old man as he started using Haoshoku Haki to pressure the Azure Pirates.

The old man was about to run towards Ken when a white light surrounded him. "Wait, not yet! I can still fight!" screamed the old man, but the next second he completely disappeared from that place.

"What the hell was that? Do they have a teleportation fruit?" asked Ace.

"Who knows, I would not be surprised tho," said Ken.

"Argh, ey Ken, help me out, will ya."

Ken appeared in front of Sabo, who was writhing in pain. He touched Sabo and used Haoshoku Haki on him. Sabo immediately got a relieved look on his face.

"Thank you. That curse power of his is scary, but I guess that scary power is now ours," said Sabo as he looked at Shodai Kitetsu that Ken stole from the old man.

"I don't know if I even want it. But I guess we can talk about that another time."

Ace came over with an exhausted Deuce.

"Damn, that move always takes a lot out of me. I hate it so much that using an awakened Devil Fruit move without being awakened takes so much stamina," said Deuce.

"You really are too reckless. Not even giving me a sign that you were going to do it. And what if it didn't work on him and he took you out while you were exhausted!" Ken started scolding Deuce.

No one knows how he did it, but Deuce somehow managed to use an awakened move while not being awakened. He first did it while they were still on the sky island. It is a move that disrupts the senses of the one targeted. Ken used that split second opportunity to strike.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But we managed to take one of his arms and his sword, which is of the highest rank. While all of us suffered minimal damage."

"Tsk, let just go back before I decide to kill you."

The four of them went back to the island. Sabo and Ken went to Deuce's office to get treated. While he was there, Ken also expelled all the curses from Vlad. Turning his previous painful face into a peaceful one.

Sabo was laying down on one of the beds and said, "It seems like you are still a mortal. It has been a while since I last saw you injured, Ken."

"Well, we did fight against a god, so it is to be expected that I would get injured. But he really did surprise me. We are lucky that the other four did not come, or else we would not have survived that fight."

"Why was one of them after Vlad? Couldn't they just send some Admirals to get him?" asked Deuce.

"He probably went after Vlad because he is afraid that he will say something to the Admirals or has something that he really wants," said Sabo.

"I guess we will just have to ask Vlad when he wakes up," said Ken.

"Where am I?" asked Vlad as he suddenly sat up.

"Speak of the Vampire."

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[Not even one of the 5 Elders was a match for the four of them. But I guess you shouldn't be happy if you beat an old man by ganging up on him.

What should Ken do with the sword? I don't know if it really is Shodai Kitetsu, but in my fanfic it is :) ]

Facts & Quotes:

- Falling in love is like being on drugs.

(Last time I checked, drugs were bad for you. So...)

- Love makes you do things you probably shouldn't…

- Love can make you sick

- Love makes you dumb

- Love can literally make you crazy.

(If my mother asks me why I am single, I'll just show her this.)

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"I used to always cry and give up... I made many wrong turns... But you... You helped me find the right path... I always chased after you... I wanted to catch up to you... I wanted to walk beside you all the time... I just wanted to be with you...You changed me! Your smile is what saved me! That is why I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because... I love you..."

- Hyuuga Hinata (Naruto)

"Just your touch... gets me excited. It makes me so happy. But those feelings will all turn into pain. The happier I am now, the more it'll hurt. I know how cruel this is... but no matter how hard I try, I can't rid myself of this. - Nejima-kun... I... don't know... what love is. "

- Takasaki Mikasi (Koi To Uso)

"You were always there for me, and that's all I needed. Just you. For some reason, I didn't feel sad or broken up, it just didn't seem real. But slowly I realized it was real – that you were gone. And little by little, I slowly felt something inside me go numb."

- Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop)