Chapter 115

A/N: I was struck by a sudden idea while I was taking a sh*t. Since I write so damn slow and there are way too many chapters (for me, if I'm a reader) to reread and catch up with the story, what if I write Volume Recaps as Auxiliary Chapters?

Yay or nay?

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Ace returned to the Ashen Dragon with a badly beat up Lucci he didn't bother carrying. Ace had his hand gripping Lucci's ankle and carried him like that as he flew towards the Ashen Dragon. When Ace reached the Ashen Dragon, he was surprised to see that their ship was already coated. 

Well, perhaps not yet. Hepha was on the upper deck with some Doubles looking like they were finalizing the coating process. With the amount of Doubles working on the deck, Ace guessed that Doppol was back aboard.

"You guys work fast!" Ace shouted from above, getting their attention.

"Ace! Welcome back!" Hepha greeted Ace with a nod. "Doppol and Augur are here as well!"

"Good to know!" Ace said before flying down on the Ashen Dragon's deck. He then gave the still unconscious Lucci to one of Doppol's Doubles. "Take him down to the brig for me, will ya?"

"No problem!"

The Double carried away Lucci in the same manner Ace did, dragging the unconscious World Government agent by his ankle. Ace then walked to where Hepha was just in time to hear one of the Doubles yelp in celebration.

"It's done! The Ashen Dragon is now coated!"

"Nice work, you guys!" Hepha said to the Doubles. "Now, go and help the others with setting up the new cannons."

Ace watched the Doubles scurry off to do what Hepha said. Ace then turned to Hepha with a raised brow in curiosity.

"Since when did we have new cannons?" Ace asked.

"Call it a pet project of mine," Hepha said, winking at Ace.

It was strange. Hepha had an eyepatch, but Ace and the others knew her long enough to know when she's winking. Still curious about the new cannons, Ace pressed further.

"Is it those laser blueprints you guys found at Vegapunk's old lab?" Ace asked.

"Well, we only have one of those so far," Hepha said with a tinge of embarrassment, but Ace was impressed that she was able to build one so fast. "The cannons I was talking about were-!"

Hepha's attention was caught by the sight of a team of Doubles replacing one of their old cannons with the new ones. Full of glee, excitement, and pride at her work, Hepha led Ace by his wrist and pulled him along.

"This! This is the cannon I was talking about!" Hepha said, gesturing to the new cannon she mentioned.

Ace's eyes glimmered in awe at the beauty in front of him. The cannon had an intricately designed barrel in the shape of a dragon's head. Aside from that, it looked like a normal cannon. From the outside, at least.

"Never thought a cannon could be so beautiful! HAHAHAHA!" Ace inspected the cannon closer. "What does it do?"

"Since I noticed you loved firing flaming cannonballs so much, I had this idea to make the process more efficient," Hepha said with a proud grin. "I won't go into the specifics. Just know that you no longer need to ignite flames in front of the cannons or soak the cannonballs in oil to shoot flaming shots ever again."

"Which means, you just increased our ship's rate of fire," Ace said before patting Hepha's shoulder. "Nice work, Hepha!"

"Thank you, Captain," Hepha said. "Besides that, I'm finished with what you asked. Our ship is coated and ready to go under."

"Yeah, I heard," Ace said. "I'm surprised you guys are finished with it already!"

"Isn't that what you asked?" Hepha asked, with a slight tilt of her head in confusion.

"I don't think I said anything," Ace said. "Honestly, I was planning to distract the marines while you finish coating…"

"...well then, I'm glad it didn't have to come to that," Hepha said.

At that moment, Vash burst out of the door leading to the lower decks of their ship. His face spoke volumes of how stressed he was. When he saw Ace, a small flash of relief lit his face up.

"Ohh, Ace! I'm glad you're back so quick!" Vash said, greeting Ace.

"What happened?" Ace asked. He remembered what Vash was doing before he left the ship to look for Augur and Doppol.

"It's bad. Really bad," Vash said. "I was able to reach out to Soma and Terzo first. They're running from the marines right now."

Ace and Hepha didn't react, but they were inwardly worried. Very worried. It seems Augur's pessimism wasn't completely unfounded. Still, to hear the reality is very worrying. And to think it may not even be the worst news…

"And the others?" Ace asked, urging Vash to continue his report.

"I was able to reach Mihar next," Vash said. "Him and Eri are… in a dire spot."

"How dire?"

"Mihar is engaged in a firefight with what sounds like a whole marine fleet. The two of them had to go separate ways," Vash said, much to Hepha's displeasure.

"Eri's alone?" Hepha asked, very worried for their crew's little girl. "What about Tanya and Kotatsu?"

"That's the thing," Vash said, eyebrows furrowed in equal worry and frustration. "I couldn't reach them at all. Mihar said their group split into two earlier today."

Ace, Hepha, and Vash were then embroiled in silent stress. Each of them were carefully weighing the situation, thinking of how to proceed. But in the end, both Vash and Hepha looked to Ace for the final decision.

"What do we do, Ace?" Vash asked.

Before Ace could give an answer, the alarms of the Ashen Dragon blared to life. The trio of Ace, Vash, and Hepha looked up at the speakers, expecting Augur's voice. A second later, they heard his dreadful announcement.

"Captain!" Augur, their stoic sniper, rarely panicked. But this time, the panic was audible in his voice. "Akainu is coming personally! He went ahead of his fleet! He is coming straight to us!"

"Set sail! We're getting out of here!" Ace said, loud and clear for all to hear. "Doubles! Set course to San Faldo and keep underwater! Don't waste Hepha's coating!"

"Aye, Captain!"

Ace then looked up at the crow's nest, his mind racing to think of what to do next.

"Augur, get over here!" Ace shouted.

Not a second later, Augur popped into existence right in front of Ace.

"I am here, Captain."

"How long until Akainu has us in his sight?" Ace asked.

"By sight alone, I would say ten minutes," Augur said.

"Okay. We have some time," Ace said before grinning at Augur. "I need your power, Augur. Let's leave the damn magma bastard a gift before we're gone."

"I am yours to command, Captain," Augur said.

Ace then faced the ocean before breathing in all he could. The salty sea air has this distinct smell that he couldn't help but love. Calming himself down, Ace reached out to all the power he had inside him.

Fire was fleeting, dangerous, and alive. That was the feeling Ace had whenever he reached out to the power hidden dormant within him. Attaining true mastery over his Devil Fruit would mean attaining mastery over such a powerful, living, and primal force.

Still, Ace focused and did all he could to have as much power as he could get. Nothing else mattered at the moment besides wrestling control over the source of his power, Ace's will against fire itself.

The two forces clashed, mixed and fused. What he could control, Ace would take. Fire burned inside him. Despite being a man of flames, fire personified, Ace felt the sheer heat of the flames roaring within him, begging to be unleashed.

The flames burning in the depth of Ace's soal roared and demanded an outlet. Ace provided one. With his hand raised, open palm facing skyward, Ace directed his flames to the space above his palm.

A small fire flickered to life in Ace's hand. In seemingly an instant, it grew bigger. But, Ace didn't let it. With the sheer strength of his will, Ace wrestled control over the flames. Instead of becoming bigger, the flames became denser.

They were standing a bit away from Ace, but Vash, Hepha, and Augur still felt the heat of their captain's fire.

"Woah… has Ace's flames been this hot before?" Hepha asked.

"No… I don't think so," Vash said with a small smile on his face as he stared at the back of Ace.

For five minutes, Ace stood there. He gathered all the fire he could muster and condensed it above his palm. Ace himself was sweating from the abnormal heat he held in his hand.

With his eyes closed in focus, Ace couldn't see what exactly he was forming on his hand. But, he wasn't finished yet. Ace didn't like how the heat of his flames were escaping. So, he demanded the fire to not release its energy in its surroundings.

Eventually, Ace succeeded. Once he no longer felt any heat, he opened his eyes. There, in his palm, was what looked like a miniature sun. Vash, Hepha, and Augur stood beside Ace and they saw what he held in his hand as well.

"What is that?" Vash asked.

"This, Vash… is what I want to blow up in Akainu's face," Ace answered with a wide grin. "Let's name this move…"

Ace tried to think of a name. He looked at what he had in his hand. A miniature sun. A miniature star. Once unleashed, it would definitely explode with an unprecedented amount of force for something so small. It contained not only fire, but his will as well. His Haki.

"Great Flame Commandment: Supernova," Ace said, naming his attack. He then turned to Augur with an eager glint in his eyes. "You ready, Augur?"

"What is it you want me to do, Captain?" Augur asked, reflecting the eager glint that Ace showed.

"Warp me in front of Akainu before warping us back here a second later," Ace said. "Can you do that?"

Augur answered with a nod, eliciting a laugh from Ace.

"Great! Let's give the magma bastard our loving gift!"

…

Akainu felt great irritation at the report he received. The stationed CP9 agents in Water 7 stopped giving update reports. It would only mean one thing: failure. What irritated Akainu about it is the fact that there is a chance that Gol D. Ace and his crew are now alert about a probable attack, putting the whole operation in jeopardy.

A lot was riding on this operation. The Navy and the World Government have pulled no stops in this effort to capture Gol D. Ace, the son of the Pirate King. His mere existence, even his very name, is enough to thrust the world into chaos. Akainu knew this to be true and he needed no data to support it even if said data is already present.

Allowing the New World to be engulfed in chaos as a result of his absence was worth it if it meant that the son of the Pirate King was captured and executed. This is what Akainu believed.

With the sake of the mission in his mind, Akainu didn't hesitate to jump out and face the pirates head on alone. Today, justice must win.

Suddenly, Akainu saw a future…

…

"Ready, Captain?" Augur asked, his hand gripping Ace's shoulder.

"Let's do it!" Ace said.

Warping feels unusual for Ace. It wasn't like what he expected. It wasn't just his surroundings blurring. Before that, Ace felt as if he was hooked by the navel. Then, he felt a pulling and suffocating sensation as if he was pulled by the navel into a tight tube as everything went black while still feeling as if the world was spinning. And then, as fast as that sensation came, it was over and everything was back to normal.

Ace was glad he was focused even before Augur asked him if he was ready. One moment, he was facing the calm blue sea around Water 7. Then, not even a second later, Akainu was in front of him.

Without hesitation, Ace let go of the miniature sun he had floating above his palm and threw it towards Akainu. Ace felt as if everything was going in slow motion. There, he saw Akainu already coated in magma and Haki, as if defending himself from an incoming attack.

Ace and Akainu made eye contact as everything happened, both fighting silent battles with just their eyes. Then, before they disappeared, Ace flashed Akainu a grin as he stuck out the middle finger of the hand he threw his attack with right at Akainu's face.

Then came that strange feeling of warping with Augur's power. Then, the horizon lit up in a brilliant white glow.

It was far stronger than Ace expected.

"Ahh, shit," Ace said before facing his crew. "Let's sink! Now!"

Thankfully, the Doubles were ready. As soon as Ace said it, the Ashen Dragon was already sinking and the bubble coating the ship was inflating.

As their ship was sinking, they noticed something from the horizon. It looked like a-

"Is that a… shockwave?" one of the Doubles asked.

"Oi, Ace." Vash's voice sent a chill down Ace's back as he turned to face his vice-captain who was smiling at him with his eyes closed. "How strong exactly was your explosion…?"

Ace scratched the back of his head. "I uhhh… I don't know. Hehe!"

"We should've planned this more!" Vash said. Just as he finished saying that, the shockwave reached them.

Even though they were already underwater, the Ashen Dragon and those of the Royal Aces present felt the shockwave of Ace's Great Flame Commandment: Supernova. It was an attack that seemed to be true to its name, considering how their ship was reeling from the effects of an attack that was launched beyond the horizon.

"Hold on!" Vash shouted, though it was unnecessary.

Everyone on the ship was holding on to the most stable structure they could hold on to for dear life. It felt like the ship was about to tip over.

"Goddamn it!" Hepha shouted in frustration. "This is why we need a great helmsman!"

None of the Royal Aces so far were very adept at maneuvering ships in dire situations. This situation right now counts as one.

"The shockwave is too strong!" Vash shouted. "We need to neutralize it somehow!"

"Or counteract it!" Ace added before his face lit up as an idea struck him. "I got it! All of you, let's open fire with our portside cannons!"

Everyone immediately figured out what Ace's idea was. If they continue firing their portside cannons, the force of the shockwave pushing their starboard side would hopefully be countered. Hopefully.

At this point, it is imperative that the crew believes in their captain. Luckily, the Royal Aces were loyal to their reckless captain. The Doubles instantly got to work, and more of them were spilling out of the ship from the lower decks.

Meanwhile, Doppol was back to barfing in his metal bucket…

The Doubles got to work and fired the Ashen Dragon's portside cannons, both those on the deck and below. The cannons all fired simultaneously and are reloaded just as quickly for another shot.

Many Doubles were lost in the process with them going overboard and disintegrating into the ocean. But, they all kept at it and Double also didn't hesitate burning his stamina by creating Doubles.

It was soon apparent to the entire crew that Ace's idea had merit. As the cannons fired along with the remainder of the shockwave from Ace's Supernova, the Royal Aces aboard the ship felt a tugging sensation, a push and pull from port to starboard in a steady fashion.

The Ashen Dragon would've tipped over right there under the sea. Thankfully, the shockwave died down and they were safe.

Everyone laid down on the deck to relax for a moment. Doppol himself came up to the deck to check on the others.

"I-Is everyone a-alri- BLEUUUURGH!"

"Yeah… we're alright," Ace said with a laugh to Doppol. "How about you? Your seasickness back again?"

"I-It's fine. I'm fine," Doppol said between heaving breaths. "Shockwave just… pushed over the edge."

"Good," Ace said before laughing out loud. "I think we did it! HAHAHAHA! We got away from a Navy Admiral, you guys!"

"And to think facing that Admiral is worse than that shockwave from your attack," Vash said before gritting his teeth. "I really need to become stronger, Ace."

"Don't worry, you guys," Ace said. "After we get our crewmates back… let's disappear from the world for a while."

The Royal Aces aboard the Ashen Dragon nodded at their captain's words. They then focused on what they must for now: rescuing the rest of their crew from the marines. The Ashen Dragon sailed on silently under the sea.