Chapter 113

(Ace POV)

Ace was flying above the ocean between St. Poplar and Water 7. He escaped his pursuers from the underground auction rather easily. He was now flying towards Water 7 to meet up with Hepha on the Ashen Dragon just as they talked about.

Suddenly, the Baby Transponder Snail on Ace's wrist woke up and rang.

"Purupurupurupuru… purupurupurupuru… gacha…"

Ace picked up the call he was receiving. He was out of range of a baby transponder snail's signal. Which meant that this call came from a big transponder snail. And only the crew knew what the contact numbers are.

"Hello?" Ace said after stopping his flight. He was floating mid-air with his legs emitting jet-like flames.

"Ace!" It was Hepha's voice that answered. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm flying to you right now," Ace said. "What's wrong?"

"We have a… situation," Hepha said. Her voice and the way she spoke told Ace how urgent it was. "We need you here. Right now."

"...got it," Ace said. "I'll be there soon."

Hepha hung up the call. Ace noticed how she sounded so strange, calling but giving Ace no information whatsoever besides the fact that he needs to hurry up. Ace thought up different scenarios as to why Hepha acted like that and none of them were good.

So, instead of being hung up on thinking why, Ace decided to hurry up and see the situation for himself…

…

Ace flew at full speed. The lower half of his body transformed into fire itself as he thrusted himself forward at great speeds with his flames. In around seven minutes, Water 7 was already in his sight. He then flew to Rocky Cape where the Ashen Dragon was docked.

"Ace!"

Ace spotted Hepha waving at him from the Ashen Dragon's deck. He also noticed a big hole on their ship's deck. Judging by how the broken planks of wood were protruding upward away from the point of impact, Ace judged the strike came from above deck.

"What happened here?" Ace asked Hepha as he touched down on the deck.

"I'll get straight to the point," Hepha said. "Akainu is coming."

"!!!"

Shock wrote itself on Ace's face. He was glad he wasted no time and immediately flew here.

"Is that why you said so little when you called me?" Ace asked.

"Yeah. They could be listening to whatever signal goes out from Water 7. You didn't notice their fleet while you were flying here?"

"No, I didn't."

"Well, Augur did say it'll be some time before we see them."

Ace then noticed the sheer lack of presence in the ship. He extended his senses and found it to be true. Him, Hepha, and some Doubles were the only ones on the ship.

"Where are the others?" Ace asked Hepha with a raised eyebrow.

"Augur went to get Doppol, Vash went away with Kuma to Karakuri Island, and Burgess was a slimy traitor who could've been the one feeding marines information."

Ace gaped at the last two things Hepha said. He first focused on Vash and Kuma. He was here?

"Kuma? The Tyrant Kuma?" Ace asked. "He was here? And why would Vash go with him?"

"Uhh…" Hepha glanced away from Ace as she blushed in embarrassment. "I'm friends with Kuma, back when I worked on a job from the Revolutionary Army."

"...you know, why am I not surprised you're connected with them, too?"

"Sorry," Hepha said sheepishly. "I kinda convinced Vash to go with him. Kuma was looking for a DELTA Scientist, same as Vash."

"I see," Ace said thoughtfully. "Normally, I'd let Vash go. But we need him here right now."

"I'll let him know," Hepha said, acknowledging Ace's order without him even telling what it was.

Hepha went to the communications room they had on the ship. Ace followed her. They talked along the way.

"What about Burgess?" Ace asked.

"He was planning to blow up Ash from the inside," Hepha said. "I stopped him, of course. He disappeared from the deck after Augur alerted us of Akainu approaching to do it, too."

"So, it was likely that he was working with them," Ace said. "Damn it. It doesn't make sense! He was their prisoner! We had an agreement too. Why would he work with them?"

"I don't know, Ace. Let's not get hung up over it."

They reached the communications room. Hepha immediately contacted Vash's number on the transponder snail they had. Ace hung back and let Hepha speak first. A few rings later, Vash picked up.

"Hello?" Came the voice of Vash.

"Vash, I'm really sorry about this," Hepha said. "But, we need you here. Right now."

"What's going on?" Vash asked.

"It's about our crew's future, Vash," Ace said, letting Vash know that he was there. "We need you here right now. I need my vice-captain."

"...I'm on my way, Captain," Vash said before Hepha hung up.

"He should be here in a minute," Hepha said, turning to Ace. "Kuma has a useful Devil Fruit power."

"Coming from you, that's a praise," Ace said before remembering the treasures he had in the bag he slinged on his back. "Speaking of Devil Fruits, look what I found."

Ace showed Hepha the Devil Fruits he stole from the auction as they walked back to the deck: the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Cloud-Cloud Fruit. Ace told Hepha what they were, shocking her that Ace's little outing was so… productive.

"Wait," Hepha said, pointing at the Cloud-Cloud Fruit. "Isn't that-?"

"Yup."

"..."

"..."

"We forgot to feed him," Ace and Hepha said simultaneously. A brief moment of silence passed before Hepha sighed.

"Two Logias in one heist… your luck is ridiculous," Hepha said after recovering from the realization of what they failed to do. "So? What do you want me to do with them?"

"Keep this one for me," Ace said, gesturing at the Dark-Dark Fruit. "I have plans for it. As for this other one… I'm thinking of a gift for Tanya."

"A gift?" Hepha asked.

"Yeah. Something to remember her uncle by. They have a strange and strained relationship… but since they stayed with us, they got closer as family," Ace said. "So… I'm thinking we fuse this Devil Fruit with Enel's Bo!"

"That's… I don't know. Will she be okay with it?"

"Who knows?" Ace said with a chuckle. "As the Captain, Enel's Bo technically belongs to me. Besides, I'll only make the Bo better, not worse."

"Well, that's a good point," Hepha said before chuckling to herself. "This is ridiculous."

"What is?" Ace asked.

"Akainu is coming soon, remember?" Hepha said. "Everything horrible in my life… I can call him the root cause of it. I should be at least scared right now. But with you here, I can't help but feel… safe."

Ace grinned at Hepha. He was honestly flattered after hearing how his mere presence affected her. He put a comforting hand on Hepha's shoulder.

"Thanks for trusting me, Hepha."

"Of course, Captain."

A brief moment of silence passed between them. It wasn't awkward at all, for Ace at least. The moment they got on top of the deck was also the same moment they heard a crash just outside near the Ashen Dragon. Ace and Hepha immediately went to investigate the source of the sound from the deck, only to see Vash lying down on the rocky terrain of Rocky Cape in the middle of a pawprint crater.

"Ace! Hepha!" Vash immediately got up and jumped up to the ship after seeing the two of them. "What happened?"

"Akainu is coming," Ace said without hesitation before turning to Hepha. "In about…?"

"He'll be here in an hour and a half, based on Augur's pessimistic estimation," Hepha said to Vash.

"...I see why you called me back. I'm glad you did," Vash said, impressively taking the terrifying information in stride before turning to Ace. "What's the plan, Captain?"

"We escape, of course," Ace said. "We can't take on an Admiral Fleet yet. We're outnumbered, unprepared, separated, and our training isn't even finished yet."

"I agree," Vash said with a smile, glad that Ace was thinking rationally. "Who else knows of the situation?"

"The three of us along with Augur and Doppol are the only ones aware, so far," Hepha said, answering Vash. "Augur went to get Doppol here as fast as possible."

"When was this?" Ace asked, noticing the lack of Augur and Doppol on the ship.

"...too long," Hepha said, admitting that Augur was taking too long. "Something must have held them up."

"The timing is too good to be a coincidence," Vash said. "Maybe… some marines are already here?"

"That's possible," Hepha said. "I think it would be best if we assume we're already caught in a net. It's just slowly constricting us…"

"In any case, we know what we need to do now," Ace said. "Gather everyone and escape. Alright. Vash, you go ahead and contact everyone. We'll be coming to pick them up."

"Copy that," Vash said before rushing to the communications room to contact the others.

Ace then turned his attention to Hepha. "I need you to prepare the ship for sailing. Lead the Doubles."

"Got it."

"Wait, you still have some leftover resin, right?" Ace asked, to which Hepha nodded. "Great! Forget about preparing the ship for sailing. I'll leave it to you, Doubles!"

"Yes, Captain!" Doppol's Doubles, who were listening in, acknowledged the captain's orders.

"I need you to coat our Ashen Dragon, Hepha," Ace said with a wide grin. "Can you do that?"

"I don't-!"

Hepha suddenly looked as if she was thinking. Ace grinned at seeing her grind her brain. He just planned on using the same tactic Whitebeard used to sail straight to the middle of Marineford to escape their current situation. It astounded Ace how such a simple tactic was not accounted for by the marines in the original story.

"You're planning to escape by going underwater?" Hepha asked, to which Ace nodded. "That's… genius! Why the hell couldn't I think of that?"

"It won't be foolproof, though," Ace said. "We shouldn't sail anywhere near Akainu. He'll definitely still sense us… I think. Better safe than sorry."

"Agreed," Hepha said before going away with a pep in her step. "I'll do what you asked now, Ace! What about you?"

"I'll go and get our sniper and shipwright duo," Ace said before flying away.

As he was flying high above Water 7, Ace extended his senses with Observation Haki. He knows what Augur and Doppol's presence feels like. He just needs to look for them. It was like looking for two specific glowing strands of grass in a haystack.

Ace then remembered what Doppol was here for. Their shipwright wanted to study shipbuilding techniques he wasn't too familiar with. Ace knew there was only one place where all the best shipwrights were gathered.

With his jet-like flames, Ace flew towards the upper section of Water 7 where the more affluent members of the city resided. He didn't know where exactly Galley-La Company was, but he was confident he'll spot it soon. Augur and Doppol should be near there.

Then, Ace felt it. He felt the presence of Augur and Doppol as well as his Doubles. There were also four presences near them who were rather strong. Ace had an idea who they were. He then went down to see if his hunch was right.