Me: The eight chapter. Nothing new happening? Maybe? Can't remember. Anyways enjoy this chappie. And I have decided that the next chapter won't come up until I have at least 14 reviews.
Oh and sorry for the lateness but didn't want to upload the document -.-
"Oi, wake up." That was what Mirim woke up to next morning. That and that Ace was shaking her and was a little too close to her face. With a surprised yelp she started her day with dealing her commander an uppercut.
"Oh crap! Sorry Commander. I'm really really sorry!" she half shouted as she tried to bring him back from unconsciousness.
"Hahahaha Ace got owned by a girl." She turned and saw Luffy and Usopp rolling around on the ground laughing. Suddenly a small wave of sand half buried them.
"What was that?" Mirim shrugged. "The wind maybe?" Then Ace began to stir.
"Ah Commander. Are you alright?" she asked.
"I learned something new today…" he whispered. Mirim leaned in closer as to hear what he was saying.
"Never wake you up unless I'm at least one meter away from you."
BONK
"Ouch!" "Moron." Mirim stuck out her tongue. Then he produced two plates with breakfast and two cups with water.
"This was what I woke you up for though." He said and handed her her plate and cup. It was a wonder that he had not spilled it all when she punched him.
"Sorry." She said again and followed up him up on a rock in the shade and began to eat. When they were almost finished Mirim looked around.
"What is it?" Ace asked after he swallowed his food.
"I feel like we're being watched… It creeps me out."
"Seconds! Seconds!" Luffy and Usopp yelled only to get kicked in the face by their cook.
"Shut up. That had enough calories in it." Of course Luffy don't listen to such things and grabbed some of Zoro's food. Soon it became a fight between the four men.
"Why does every meal turn out like this?" Vivi asked depressed. "Don't look at them." Nami said. Vivi turned to look at Ace and Mirim before she leaned in closer to Nami.
"Look. Ace-san has finished eating and he's cleaning his fork and plate." The blue haired princess whispered to the navigator.
"You're right. He sure is different than his nincompoop younger brother. Makes me think it is hope for Luffy." Nami sighed as they turned their attention back to the four fighting over food.
"But, with his good manners, you'd never suspect that he has such an incredible bounty on his head." Surprised Vivi turned to Nami.
"Ace-san has a bounty?"
"I think someone said it was enough to make bounty hunters over the whole world hell bent on catching him." Nami said as she thought back to her thieving days. "Member of the Whitebeard pirates, Fire Fist Ace. Hearing that name makes pirates everywhere tremble and since both Ace-san and Mirim-san who also has such a high bounty is searching for this Blackbeard he must be quite a vicious character. Blackbeard… A nakama killing traitor… It looks like they plan on hunting him down to the end of the world, Ace-san and Mirim-san."
"Nami." Vivi whispered and gained the navigator's full attention. "Don't you think they look cute together?" she asked and secretly pointed at Ace and Mirim. Nami turned and saw Mirim playfully punching Ace in the shoulder which resulted in him tickling her side making her fall on her back with him following to continue the torture. Mirim had always been extremely ticklish so she begged for mercy almost at once.
"Now that you say it, they do. And they do look really comfortable together too." Suddenly Mirim began staring at them and the two girls felt as though they were busted. Smiling nervously they went back to their food and Mirim got back up after finally pushing Ace away.
"Whoa awesome! The meat is talking and running away!" Luffy yelled and ran after the 'floating meat'.
"Is he stupid?" Mirim sweat dropped but none the less followed the others.
--
Unlike Luffy who ran off in a random direction, Mirim and Ace actually found the food thieves first.
"Is it good, Chip? Our first meal in ten days." The oldest looking boy asked as the younger one took a bite of it. The younger boy, Chip, nodded and handed the older one the meat.
"We never had any meat out in the badlands." The older one said and was about to dig in too.
"Ah the badlands. So that's where you two are from huh?" Ace's amused voice rang out. The two children turned frightened to him. Ace squatted down while Mirim casually leaned both arms over each of his shoulders smiling warmly at the two kids. "Smells good. You enjoying it?" Ace's voice was not amused any more, rather it was cold.
"Who are you?" the older boy yelled while keeping his younger brother behind him. "We won't give you back the food!" Chip yelled frightened. Ace still stared coldly at them.
"Commander, they're just kids." Mirim whispered so only he could hear. Suddenly the older one pointed a gun at them.
"One move and you're a dead man!" he threatened but he was trembling so terribly that the threat felt empty. Mirim straightened up shocked.
'Kids with guns? What the hell?!' she thought as Ace chuckled darkly.
"As a general rule I'm not fond of people pointing guns at my face." He smirked wickedly.
"Bro'! Have you really shot it before?" Chip asked weakly beside his brother. "Is the bullet really going to come out?"
"H-how would I know?" the older brother replied hysterically. "W-wait I'll just…" the boy trailed off and pulled the trigger. Chip though threw himself over his brother's arms and managed to slightly alter the aim although now it was aiming right at Mirim. Ace grabbed a rock and threw it at the stone but just in case he didn't manage to hit the bullet he shielded Mirim. Fortunately for him he managed to hit the bullet.
"You're playing a dangerous game kid." Ace said as he towered over the two boys. "Never draw on someone unless you can hit your mark." He said coolly. The siblings huddled together under his harsh eyes.
"Commander…" Mirim hissed angrily.
"Who're they?" the rest of the Straw Hat crew except their captain came up behind them. Suddenly the oldest boy ran up to them and begged Ace to find and capture a man for them.
"If you catch him I'll give you one million beri!" the boy yelled. "I can't pay you now, but when I grow up, I promise I'll pay you!" he yelled. "Find this man!" he gave Ace a photo.
--
"Following him, I and my brother have journeyed all the way from the badlands." The crew had finally managed to calm the two children down. Ace himself was rather surprised that the kids had travelled that far looking for this man but he thought himself lucky that someone knew he was around.
"We need more details. What's his name?" Usopp asked. "Scorpion. A bounty hunter." The boy replied.
"Why are you two following a bounty hunter?" Nami wanted to know. The siblings looked quite depressed when she asked that.
"I have business with him as well." Ace said out of nowhere. "A man who defeated Blackbeard is in Yuba. He goes by the name of Scorpion." Ace said. Everyone looked at him questionably.
"The only reason I and Commander are heading for Yuba is to meet this guy." Mirim explained.
"But Ace! Do you really think this Scorpion guy defeated Blackbeard?" Usopp asked.
"I'm not sure. Only way for to find out is to meet him face to face." Ace drawled.
"Ace? Fire Fist Ace?" the siblings asked.
"Hm… someone's coming." Mirim told everyone as Ace stood up. "Two men and one bird." He muttered. Then Scorpion came up on the top of the sand hill sitting on an ostrich.
"There you are, Fire Fist Ace. Oh and Mirim the Reaper too." Scorpion exclaimed. "I am Scorpion. The indomitable hero!I have traveled from afar to challenge you. This will be a true battle!" he yelled triumphantly.
"So he is Scorpion." Vivi said to herself.
"Yo! Is everyone here?" Luffy exclaimed and appeared behind Scorpion.
"Luffy?!" the whole crew yelled surprised. "What the hell are you doing over there?!" They were angry but Ace only smirked coolly at Scorpion and so did Mirim which made the bounty hunter nervous.
"Too bad for you, I'm lucky in a fight! Your days of roaring bravely on the seas end today!" he shouted. Suddenly Luffy began laughing behind him. Mirim glanced at her commander and then her tough act went straight to hell.
"Commander is just too cool!" she exclaimed and half fainted.
"DON'T FAINT!" The Straw Hat crew yelled angrily and she hurried back on her feet and began acting cool and cold again. Everyone just sweat dropped.
"Ace! A true battle! Don't pull any punches!" he called. "I wasn't planning to!" Ace yelled back annoyed. "But before we fight there is something I wanna know. Get out of the way Luffy." Ace called.
'Hm? He looks afraid. He can't have defeated Teach. He can't be stupid enough to really challenge Commander.' Mirim thought to herself.
"Here I come, Fire Fist Ace!" Scorpion declared and charged towards them.
'On second thought…' she sweat dropped as Ace leaped out on open ground away from the others.
"Take this!" the bounty hunter yelled and shot a net at Ace which he easily deflected with his fire. The net flew back and was now scorching hot as it fell on top of its owner. With a bunch of smoking wounds Scorpion got to his feet slowly and smirked.
"I guess I should be thankful. If defeating you would be so easy it wouldn't be much of a victory!" he laughed.
"Yeah? Well you have some skills yourself." Ace smirked too. "The Fight of Hell starts now!" Scorpion declared. "Popo! My Prescoracci Rifle!" The ostrich came running over with a tiny tube that the man aimed right at Ace.
"Pressurized Corrosive Acid Rifle!" the man yelled. "With this, I'll shoot pressurized acid into your body!" He charged forward and shot the acid towards Ace who had not lost his smirk. The young commander leaped over Scorpion so as not to endanger the others seeing as the acid had smashed the stone behind Ace to pieces.
Once Ace landed he charged towards Scorpion who shot at him multiple times but Ace dodged them all before he punched him in the stomach, not with too much force but it still made the older man collapse and fall down a sand hill.
"It wasn't much of a fight." Mirim sighed. "It was a nice try but you never stood a chance my friend." Usopp shrugged.
"I suspected as much. You lied about beating Blackbeard didn't you? You figured using his name would drag me out in the open, am I right?" Ace asked though he already knew the answer.
"I get it! He knew that Commander was chasing Blackbeard!" Mirim slammed her fist in her palm.
"Exactly. Not a bad idea was it?" Scorpion chuckled. "We've been evenly matched until now. It's time for me to get serious!"
"Just leave it be Commander. He was a false lead." Mirim appeared beside Ace.
"Yeah, but maybe he has some information." Ace argued.
"That's enough! That's enough dad!" The two Whitebeard pirates turned towards the two kids and watched as the two ran past them and down to Scorpion.
"You're no match for him! That's Fire Fist Ace!" the older brother, now known as Dip, cried.
"At least the kids got a brain that's working." Mirim said making Ace sweat drop.
"Ahem!" Mirim cleared her throat to get their attention. "It's nice with a family reunion and all, but if you don't have any information on Blackbeard, we're leaving!" She said sourly and walked away.
"Oi! Mirim-san! That was too harsh!" Nami called angrily but Mirim just walked right past her not even acknowledging her.
A loud boom made her turn though and she watched as Scorpions bullet hit the pillar of rock behind him and his sons. Wasting no time she ran past everyone and jumped in front of Scorpion who hid his two sons under him as the rocks fell towards them.
"MIRIM!" Ace yelled truly concerned this time as she narrowed her eyes in determination.
"KAZE!" She yelled and held her hands up as a powerful tornado appeared just above her hands keeping the rocks in place.
"WOW!" Luffy yelled.
"What kind of power has she?" Nami yelled as the wind picked up and began to blow the sand around them up making it hard for anyone to see.
"It must be some kind of Devil Fruit power!" Zoro yelled as he began to gather everyone in the crew. "Wait! Where's Ace-san?" Nami yelled.
--
Mirim kneeled, struggling to keep up the tornado. It was hard to make the wind strong enough to keep away several falling rocks as big as these. Finally she fell down on both knees, her arms holding her own body up and the tornado disappeared. The rocks hovered over them and though Scorpion and his family thought they were safe Mirim knew otherwise.
"Shit… RUN!" she cried but it was too late. The rocks came crumbling down again and this time she couldn't stop them.
'Live every day without regret…' She closed her eyes ready to feel the rocks bury her.
"HIKEN!" A giant fire ball crashed into the falling rocks and the remains of the rock pillar pushing them all in the opposite direction than the one they were falling and into the pillar making them fall on the other side saving them all in the nick of time. Mirim stared in awe at the panting Ace.
"Commander…" She breathed as he slid down the sand hill.
"Mirim! Are you alright?" he asked slightly hysterical kneeling in front of her as he grabbed her shoulders and looked her over to see if she was hurt. She laid her hands atop of his to reassure him.
"Y-yeah, but Commander… That fire ball, it was bigger than normal… you're panting." She whispered worriedly.
"Hey! You guys alright?" Sanji asked as he and Luffy ran over to the Scorpion family.
"Yeah, we're alright. What about the girl?"
"She's alright. Not a scratch." Sanji smiled.
"Commander… are you alright?" Mirim whispered as Ace still did not stop trembling.
"Yeah… I'm fine…" he panted. "No you're not!" she hissed. "That fire ball was much greater than usual! It completely drained you!" He smiled.
"What kind of Commander can't protect his Vice-Commander?" The sound of skin hitting skin was heard. Every one turned to them. Ace had a rather shocked expression on his face, sitting down on the ground holding a hand over his cheek as a red mark began to show itself on said cheek. Mirim's eyes were shielded by her bangs but her arm was still upright looking as if she just had hit him.
"You idiot! It's the other way…" she fainted, her voice muffled by his shoulder. He smiled and embraced her.
"Yeah yeah. I know." He stroked her hair gently.
--
"Alright then." Ace said as he grabbed his bag.
"You're not really going to leave us are you Ace-san?" Chopper asked sadly. Ace nodded.
"Yep. Seeing as it's confirmed that Blackbeard isn't in Alabasta there's no reason for us to stick around."
"Then Mirim-chan can stay right?" Sanji asked hopefully but was crushed when she shook her head.
"I've got to return to papa. He only allowed me to travel with the Commander for a month. Someone has to look after the second division." Mirim grinned.
"Where are you planning on going now?" Zoro asked Ace while Sanji lay on the ground sulking.
"Scorpion told me some guy in the West saw him. I'm gonna try looking there. Luffy." He said as he got something from his pocket and threw it to his brother who stared at it puzzled.
"Do yourself a favor and hang on to that." Ace told him. "What? It's just a scrap of paper." Luffy said.
"That scrap of paper will let us meet again." Silence. "Don't want it?" Ace asked.
"No. I do." Luffy answered.
"It's perfectly natural for a guy to be worried about his bumbling kid brother right?" He sounded almost embarrassed about admitting he was worried for Luffy "He's probably going to keep burning your hands too." He told the crew. "Please take care of him for me."
"Luffy, the next time we meet will be at the Pirates Summit." "Okay!" Luffy agreed. "Come to the top." Ace said.
"Commander, no long-tearful farewell here." Mirim whispered.
Suddenly Scorpions kids yelled out for them, making every one turn their attention towards them giving Ace and Mirim the opportunity to slip away silently.
--
"This is as far as I'm going with you Commander." Mirim said as she stopped.
"Yeah. Glad that you came with me this far though." Ace grinned but was rather surprised when Mirim hugged him.
"Be careful okay? I don't want to lose another nakama." She murmured.
"Don't worry. Tell pops I'll be back soon." The girl nodded and took a few steps back.
"Kaze." She whispered and turned into nothing. A gust of wind told him though, that she had left.
Kaze – Wind
Hiken – Fire fist
