A/N: Sorry for being late, but this chapter was a bitch to complete. Also 100 reviews! Yay! Thanks for reviewing everybody. Just to let everybody know I need a Shichibukai. Figured if that Ace was asked to become one, then there was an open spot. Nothing else comes to mind so enough of me rambling and read the chapter and please review.

Chapter 25

Holding up his dagger, Ace blocks James attack. A metallic whip wrapping itself around the blade. "Good thing I'm a quick learner." Ace smirks. He has to figure a way to get past James Devil Fruit power. Something as powerful as a logia has to have a weakness to counter it. Ace just has to figure out what. Until then he's just gonna have to keep fighting, and hope that wearing him down will lower his defenses.

Charging forward, Ace readies a punch. James retracts the whip, hardening it back to a sword. Holding it up, the metal man prepares to slash his opponent. Using most of his strength, Ace leaps forward. With his gut open wide, James watches as Ace's fist goes through his abdomen, leaving a gaping hole. Turning mid-air, Ace aims his blade at James head. For a brief second, Ace sees worry come across his opponents face. James brings his sword down, blocking the smaller weapon. Seeing the hole his fist made is almost closed, Ace does another spin, kicking out James legs. The fire mans eyes go wide in surprise. He actually managed to connect a hit. An idea comes to Ace, thinking he has found a way past his opponents defenses. Landing with a thud, James watches as the dagger comes down onto his face. The small blade goes through the metal mans head, spraying the liquid metal, sticking to the ground. Raising his other fist, Ace brings it down on James. The fist connects, causing the ground to crack underneath. Grinning, Ace uses this advantage to kick James away from him, down the street. Chuckling, Ace pulls the dagger out of the ground, he has found that weakness. "I think I get it now,"

Standing up, it's James turn to hold his stomach. "Get what, exactly?" The metallic sword retreats back to his arm, as he hooks the hilt back to his belt.

Ace puts his dagger away too. "It's like you said, 'the Devil Fruit is as strong as it's user', but in this case the Devil Fruit itself can only take some much damage before the person is hit." Ace walks towards his opponent. "And with the minor difference in our strength, all I have to do is hit you once, and then it's fair game." Ace dashes towards his enemy.

"Not exactly 'fair'," James charges to his opponent. "I know how to use my powers." Both boys meet each other, both ready to strike. "You on the other hand, don't."

"Oh well." Ace smirks. Both fists collide into the other. The two have a small tug of war, trying to overpower the other. Ace's fist eventually breaks through James, heading straight to his face.

With his opponents attack hitting him, James reels back. Raising his foot, he kicks Ace in the stomach, causing him to stumble back. Both combatants slide backwards, each of them digging their heels into the ground, trying to slow themselves down. Stopping, they charge back at the other. Ace kicks out, but James jumps in the air, dodging the attack. Extending his leg, James foot connects with Ace's chin. Swinging his other leg around, James slams it into the side of Ace's head, sending him tumbling across the ground. Landing, James jumps towards his opponent. Appearing over Ace, James strikes out with his fist. Ace puts up his arms, blocking the attack. Landing on top of Ace, James releases a multitude of attacks on his enemy. His arms up, Ace does his best to block most of the attacks. "You say you are a fast learner," James gets a punch through Ace's defense, hitting him in the face. "Yet you can't even use your Devil Fruit abilities." Another punch hits him in the face, causing Ace to spit out blood.

"Damn it, he's right," Ace tries to block the flurry of attacks, but they keep coming through. "I need to concentrate." Feeling the rampaging flame inside him, Ace tries his best to control it. With time not on his side right now, Ace forcefully grabs the flame, sending it right to his head.

James next attack goes right through Ace, punching the ground, cracking it underneath. "What?" His eyes go wide, not expecting his opponent to learn this quick. "He must of had it a lot longer than I thought." Feeling an immense heat, James looks down to see Ace's fist in flames.

Seeing his opponent pause, Ace uses this opportunity to push himself up. His head quickly reforms back to normal, "Take this!" Ace punches James with his flaming fist, in the gut.

James doubles over from the attack, blood and saliva coming out of his mouth, spraying Ace. He can feel the flames burning his insides. Ace starts to push even harder, trying to get the metal man off of him. Eventually a stream of fire shoots from Ace's fist, sending his opponent flying. James soars across the street, slamming through a wall, into an empty shop. He rolls across the floor, his guts feeling like they are on fire. When the pain becomes bearable, he gets up and walks outside, crawling through the hole. He can still feel the heat in the air. "I told you I'm a fast learner." Ace wipes the blood and saliva off his face.

Wiping away blood from his chin, James cracks his back. "I see, time to get serious." Raising one hand, and holding the other behind his back, he charges towards Ace. "Ferro Ferro no Bullets." Four small spheres form on the tip of his fingers, shooting towards Ace. Concentrating, Ace lets them go right through his body. Bringing his other hand from behind, a large ball covering James fist. "Cannon." The ball shoots towards Ace at an alarming rate.

Ace tries to jump to the side, but the ball clips his head, causing him to lose his footing and stumble backwards to the ground. James keep running towards Ace. Seeing his opponent, the fire man jumps back up. Raising both hands, James fires the small spheres from his fingers. Putting his arms up to block, only two go through him while the rest pummel his body. Forming a large ball on each hand, James shoots those too. They slam into Ace's body, causing him to grit his teeth, pushing him back. Taking a step forward, Ace stops himself from falling, coughing up blood. Tackling Ace, James flips him over his back. Falling back himself, James lands on top of his opponent, knocking the breath out of Ace, more blood spewing out. "Ferro Ferro no," Large spikes shoot out of James back, into Ace and the ground. "Impalement!"

Standing up James turns to look at Ace's body. He expects to see a bloody corpse, large holes filling his body. Instead he sees a live and well Ace with holes all over his body, but with flames protecting the wounds. Ace stands back up as the flames heal his body. His hat, sitting on his back, starts to fix itself with the help of the flames. "Well, if you are getting this serious," He cracks his knuckles. "Then I guess I will, too."

Jumping forward, Ace slams his fist into his opponents head. The shock of Ace still being alive keeps James from being able to change form. Many can claim to be fast learners, but Ace is definitely one. Grabbing James head, Ace pushes down as he knees him in the stomach. Getting a fist full of hair, Ace lifts his opponents head. He starts to deliver strong fast punches to James face.

James realizes he is now in a predicament and he has to get his concentration back. Grabbing Ace's hand, he rips his head from his opponents grasp, drops liquid metal fly everywhere. James punches Ace in the face himself. Delivering a jab to the fire mans side, cracking a few ribs, following with a uppercut to the stomach.

Saliva flies out of Ace's mouth from the impact. Grabbing James shirt, Ace headbutts his opponent. The attack goes through the logia user. Expecting this, Ace knees James in the gut again. Reaching over, he grabs the metal mans belt. Lifting him up, Ace slams him to the ground. James stops himself, cracking the ground, sending debris up in the air. Grabbing Ace's pants and hair, he lifts him up in the air. James brings him back down, slamming his opponents stomach on his knee.

Rolling to the ground, Ace gasps for air. That last attack knocked the wind out of him. He regains it shortly, only to have it gone again as James fist slams into his chest. Ace grabs his opponents ankle, squeezing. The ankle explodes into liquid metal. The fire user then shoves his hand up into James leg. Grabbing that raging inferno that is his Devil Fruit, Ace ignites his hand. The searing pain causes James to fall to the ground, gritting his teeth. Using his other leg James kicks Ace, trying to get him away. With each and every kick, Ace increases the flame. Unable to handle the pain any longer James starts to crawl away. Following, the flames start to get bigger and bigger until a stream of fire shoots through James leg, destroying almost the entire leg. Unable to hold it in, James screams in pain. He holds what ever remains of his leg as it slowly starts to reform.

Ace gets up, standing over his opponent. He starts to deliver swift kicks to James body, cracking a few ribs of his own. Blocking the attack, the metal man rolls away. Panting, he slowly stands back up. His leg still reforming. "You really do learn quick." He needs to buy time till his leg heal.

"I told you." Ace takes a step forward. He sees James hobble back a bit. He's trying to keep his distance till his leg heals. Ace isn't going to let that happen.

Jumping towards his opponent, Ace throws a punch. Blocking the attack, James retaliates with his own. Grabbing the fist, Ace swings his leg into the metal mans side, cracking more ribs and breaking those that are already cracked. "I'm going to pay for this, but I need to do it." James pushes off his good leg, tackling Ace. Landing on the ground, the metal man turns his whole body into liquid metal, surrounding Ace. "Ferro Ferro no," Even in this liquified form Ace can still hear him. "Grappler." James quickly takes back shape, trapping Ace inside his metallic body. "Now suffocate."

Andon continues to rapidly fire at Erik. Standing up, the hulk of a man runs through the barrage, knocking away the gunman hands. Raising his fist, he brings in to Andon's face, causing a loud crack. The sharpshooter stumbles back, blood oozing out of nose. Putting his hand to it, Andon can feel that it's broken. Erik leaps forward, punching Andon in the gut, causing him to tumble across the ground. With his legs trembling, Andon has a hard time standing back up. Erik grabs him by his blue hair, lifting him to eye level. Erik punches him again in the gut, watching Andon swing in his grasp. The muscular man continues the assault, breaking ribs. Andon swings back and forth in Erik's grasp, almost lifeless. Bringing his knees in, Andon kicks out with both feet, into Erik's chest. The attack does nothing to the muscular man, only earning him another punch to the gut. "You are one stubborn little man." Andon slightly moves his thumb, doing his best to aim for his opponents face. Taking a guess he fires a laser, hitting the big man in the eye. Erik releases his hold on Andon, covering his eye. "Son of a bitch," Some blood starts to ooze between his fingers. "That hurt you little bastard!"

Andon lands on his feet, wobbling a bit, planting them to the ground. Putting his hands together like a prayer, his palms starts to glow blue. "This is gonna hurt you even more, Reza Reza no," Andon puts his hands out, facing Erik. "Burasuto!" An explosion engulfs Erik, kicking up a lot of dust and debris. "Hopefully." Andon mutters.

Andon watches the dust cloud, hoping that Erik won't come out. When seeing a large hand reach out from the cloud, and grasps Andon by the face, all hope drains away. The hand picks him up, slamming him into the ground. The other hand grabs him by the ankle, lifting him up. Erik starts to spin, going faster and faster. Andon tries to get a clear shot at Erik, but the spinning makes it too hard for him to see properly. Eventually Erik lets go, sending Andon flying towards a building. He quickly puts his arms over his head before crashing through the wall. With the dust gone from his spinning, a now shirtless Erik, walks towards the building housing his opponent. Cuts and bruises cover his body, blood still oozing from his eye. Reaching the hole, he sees a dizzy Andon stumbling to stand up. Going inside, he grabs the sharpshooter, standing him up right. Turning around, Andon looks up at the large man. Breathing heavily, Erik says. "You were right, that one did hurt." He raises his foot. "Time for payback."

Putting his arms up, Andon gets a heavy kick from Erik, sending him flying back into the wall, imbedding him. Andon raises his hand and starts to shoot at Erik. Charging through the shots, Erik slams his shoulder into Andon, going through the wall. Grabbing the blue haired man, Erik uses him as a shield to go through another wall. Back outside, Erik throws Andon across the empty street. Tumbling across the ground, Andon stops himself. Slowly standing back up, Andon's body is covered in bruises, he even spits out some more blood. Wiping his chin, he cracks his neck. "Come on, I'm not done yet."

Erik slowly walks to his enemy, shrugging off all shots done by Andon. "There is a major flaw in your Devil Fruit." Erik grabs Andons hands, crushing them in his. Lifting him up, he leans in. "The more strength you lose, the weaker your shots becomes." Erik's eyes go wide feeling a sharp pain in his abdomen. Looking down, he sees a spear head sticking through his gut. Looking over his shoulder, he sees Cicero.

Cicero takes out his boar spear, sticking it in the large mans thigh. Erik falls to a knee, dropping Andon. Quickly rolling away, Andon struggles to stand back up. Cicero leans in, grinning. "Hey, what's up?"

Nevi's blunt sword slams into Luffy's face. Swinging it like a baseball bat, the rubber boy goes flying back. Standing back up, Luffy dusts himself off. Nevi throws her head back, laughing. Doing so causes her to see Cicero attack from behind. The navigator replaced his partisan with his fauchard. Bringing the slashing weapon down, he aims for her back. Nevi pulls out a knife, turning around, she blocks the attack with her sword. Throwing the knife, she aims for Cicero's leg. Jumping over the blade, Cicero adjusts his spear for a upward swing. Using one arm for the attack, he reaches over for his kamayari/boar spear hybrid. With the fauchard hitting Nevi's blade, Cicero lands on the broadsword, Bringing down his hybrid.

Seeing the spear come down, Nevi grins. Drawing another knife, she stabs out. The blade hits the wooden pieces sticking out of Cicero's spear. With Nevi's strength she easily stops the spear, millimeters from her face. Letting go of the fauchard, Cicero uses both hands to push the spear down. Nevi chuckles at the futile attempt of Cicero trying to kill her. "You will never be able to kill me," She moves her head forward, resting the blade of the spear on her head. "Weakling."

Luffy slams his leg into Nevi's side, causing her to nearly fold to the side. The tip of the spear cuts her forehead. "Don't forget there is two of us here." Luffy brings his other leg around, kicking Nevi in the side of the head.

Nevi tumbles across the ground. She sticks her sword into the ground, stopping herself. She looks up at the two, licking the blood that is streaming from her forehead. "Oh, I didn't forget." She jumps towards the duo. "Now bring it!"

Luffy jumps towards her, while Cicero puts away his hybrid, picking up the fauchard. The strongest of the three fighters connect fists. Nevi swings her blade, hitting Luffy away. Spinning with the momentum, she goes fully around before taking a swing at Cicero. Ducking the spear man slashes up at her back. Nevi takes out another knife, blocking the attack. "Damn it, how many of those does she have?"

Stopping, Nevi plants her sword into the ground, blocking Luffy's stretching foot from connecting with her. Turning around, she faces Cicero. Grabbing him by the neck, she squeezes. Cicero tries to slash at her, but she blocks every attack with the knife. Cicero looks Nevi in the eye and no longer sees the madness. Now she seems to be in a different world. Her eye twitches to the side, hearing Luffy call out an attack. She moves the navigator in her hands at the last second. Luffy's fist connects with Cicero's back. If wasn't for Nevi's hold on his neck, he would be screaming. Luffy retracts his arm. "Shit." He mutters under his breath.

Nevi starts to laugh again, the madness back in her eyes. "Hahaha, priceless!" She throws Cicero towards the rubber boy.

Luffy helps Cicero up. "You okay?" He starts to dust off his friend.

Rubbing his neck, Cicero uses his spear to push Luffy's hand away. "I'm fine." Cicero takes a step back, seeing Nevi already in front of him. He feels like he just said that line too soon.

Chuckling, Nevi swings her sword up. The tip just barely missing her target. Seeing this, Cicero moves his spear to block the attack. The sword stops for a second before smashing right through the weapon. Cicero's eyes go wide at seeing one of his spears break in his hands. He always tries his best to take care of them, repairing them if they get damaged. None of them though have ever broken. The shock was so much he almost didn't notice the blade inching itself closer to his head. He tries to move out of the way, but is too slow. The tip of the broadsword hits him in the chin, blood spewing out of his mouth.

Nevi brings her sword down, blocking another attack by Luffy. Raising her foot she slams it into the gut of the spear man. Cicero flies back, tumbling through the ground. Luffy goes around the sword, punching Nevi in the side. Following up with a jab to her back. Grabbing her by the face, he throws the woman back, away from Cicero. Nevi rolls along the ground, too busy laughing to stop herself.

Looking over at Cicero, Luffy can see the shock in his eyes. The navigator lays on the ground, griping the two pieces of what remains of one of his spears. He walks over to him. Picking up Cicero, Luffy gets him up on his feet. "Listen," Cicero tares his eyes from his spear to Luffy's. "I know it sucks having something you cherish damaged." The navigators eyes flicker up to his hat. "But you have to move on, you can't sit there wallowing in sadness. You have to keep a relatively clear mind." Cicero nods his head, knowing that Luffy understands what he is going through. The rubber boy pats him on the shoulder. "Good now why don't you let me handle her. Go, help Andon."

Cicero looks over Luffy's shoulder, seeing Andon smash through a building. He nods his head. "Alright," He puts the two parts of his spears away. "But you're gonna have to cover me."

Luffy nods his head. "Deal."

Taking out his partisan, Cicero runs ahead. Luffy following. Nevi charges at the two, still laughing. Swinging her sword, Cicero ducks by sliding underneath it. Cicero gets back up, continuing to run towards Andon. Luffy slams his fist into Nevi's face, knocking her to the ground. Using the momentum, Nevi does a backflip. She swings her sword, causing Luffy to duck. Swinging it back, she hits Luffy. Tumbling along the ground, Luffy stops himself. Looking up he sees Nevi chasing after Cicero, quickly gaining on him. Luffy runs after Nevi himself, stretching his arms back, as far as they will go. At his top speed he catches up to Nevi. "Gomu Gomu no," Nevi looks over at Luffy. Stopping, she brings her sword up. Luffy stops too, slinging his arms back to him. "Bazooka!" Luffy's palms slam into Nevi's gut, causing saliva and blood to spew out. The attack causes her to fly back slamming into a building, smashing through the wall. Looking down the street, Luffy sees Cicero crawl through the hole Andon went through.

Hearing Nevi laughing, Luffy sees her stepping out of the hole. Her chin is covered in blood. She spits out blood, taking out another knife. "This is the best fight ever." She smiles showing her now blood red teeth.

A/N: My friends is going to hate me for what happened to Cicero. I had a lot of mistakes this chapter too. My mind seems to work faster than my hands. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and please review.