Disclaimer: I still do not own One Piece.
ooo
When Ace set out that morning, he hadn't really planned on sinking a marine ship.
He was very aware of the fact that not only was he infamous, but he stuck out like a sore thumb. He followed a couple of marine ships for about half a day, and because they were going the same direction as he was, it made navigation more relaxed. They opened fire about an hour or two after he expected them to.
He really wasn't planning on sinking the ship...it was more like he was planning on taking a detour once they spotted him, and he was a little distracted when he noticed that the island ahead didn't look anything like Jaya. While he was looking away, a bullet grazed his hat. The rest of the bullets passed through his skin in a whirl of fire and suddenly the two ships were on either side. The capture of Fire Fist Ace was a guaranteed promotion for anyone involved.
They were jumping out of the ships in droves, getting on small boats and heading towards him.
At this point, there really was no chance for a graceful exit.
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The first thing that Smoker noticed, post explosion, was a whole lot of nothing.
A man at a table nearby ordered another drink. Some of them were gathered around a pool table watching a heated game, and he wondered if they were so busy knocking the balls around that they had missed the noise entirely. The music, soft upon arrival, was only getting louder and beginning to pound in his ears. He slammed his shot glass on the table, earning a couple of raised eyebrows.
Funny that they heard it and bothered to take the time out of their evening to notice.
He rose from his seat and left the bar, hoping that none of these men were on the clock. He didn't forget to return the smile from the man at the door with a sneer.
A dark cloud of smoke rose above the trees near the Northern part of the island. It was impossible to miss even from ground level. And Smoker was high enough to get a better view.
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Tashigi heard it sometime between when her eyes left the sky and when they returned to the ground, mid spin. And it caught her just in time to give her landing all the grace of a face fault.
A ship was sinking. No, two ships. Maybe more.
The smoke above the trees wasn't clear enough to be her Captain and there was someone approaching her from behind.
She pieced all of this together quickly in her mind, turned around and saw a man slipping behind a tree.
He pressed a finger to his lips and smiled.
And she would have caught up to him if she could have seen through the flames.
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Ace could have thought of a few colorful words to describe his predicament, but none of them had the time to coalesce in his mind between the thoughts of needing to get the hell out of the water and wondering where exactly the other half of his schooner was.
Sea water dripped from his arms and as his skin dried, he could already feel the strength returning to his body. If he had to paddle on that small piece of wood for a moment longer, he probably wouldn't have had to worry about any of this at all.
He thought he recognized the girl with dark hair and glasses from somewhere, but couldn't say where…and didn't have a chance to ponder when she was coming at him in full stride with a sword gripped in her hands. She wasn't wearing a marine uniform, but she certainly didn't seem happy to see him either.
It was agonizing to get the flames out. And he ground his teeth into some kind of crooked smile as he forced his flesh into fire. He could only use one hand, the other was still dripping wet.
Maybe a somewhat graceful escape was in the cards after all.
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"He went that way! Behind those trees!" Tashigi called out to her quickly approaching Captain.
"Behind what trees? We're in the middle of a damn forest!"
She threw her arms in the air for a moment before settling on a point in the clearing. Smoker noticed the singed tree branches, let out a low grunt and began running, Tashigi at his heels.
He heard a few gunshots behind them and didn't even want to think about the disarray that they were leaving behind. He had a clear target now and was sure that this was the source of the evening's headaches.
Though he had to admit to himself that he was at least a little bit surprised that someone else on this island was trying to do something about the mess. He picked up speed, lifting himself from the ground on a cloud of smoke.
He waved at Tashigi and she knew to keep watch from behind.
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Ace needed a moment to breathe, but didn't have the luxury. The faint smell of smoke was beginning to curl into his nostrils and that could mean anything. And of all of the things it could mean, he didn't like the thought of any of them.
He was high in the branches, looking for a means of escape from the island. When he saw the bright lights of the strip it finally dawned on him where he was.
He'd heard of this place before, but had never actually been here. Never really wanted to be here either, but the thought of just how far down he was on the ladder of bad luck made him laugh. When it rains it pours.
All of the confusion was coming from right where he had landed on the island. Perhaps this clash of marines from all over the world, in different levels of inebriation, would be enough to buy him the time to get down to a boat. Just one little boat.
The smell of smoke increased to the point where he wondered if he'd started some kind of forest fire behind him, but didn't look behind. He saw a straight path to the top of the strip, and from the clear shorelines he could see on either side, the marine ships must have been docked right at that point.
If they weren't, he'd really have something to laugh about.
He took a deep breath and kept his eyes focused on one point of light at the top of the strip, running the entire way.
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Amid all of the greens and browns of the forest, Smoker was looking for a speck of orange.
Because it just had to be him. It had to be that cocky brat. No one else, save maybe Luffy, would leave this kind of spectacle behind…and the singed trees were enough for him to call out judge, jury and executioner on one Fire Fist Ace.
His body was blurred almost entirely in smoke as he quickly scanned the forest, raising and lowering himself among the trees. All he needed was one glimpse of orange and he'd have found his man. And he couldn't have gotten far.
He heard a voice somewhere to the left and could almost make out the word 'stop', but it must have been his imagination because no one in their right mind would be stupid enough to yell out that word to a marine in the middle of a chase, with the target so close by.
No one would possibly get in the way of a man trying to do his job when no one else on this island was sober enough to do it.
He nearly bit through his cigars when he did stop. Not because he made the conscious decision to, but because the large man in front of him was blocking his path and he had to, just a split second before the inevitable collision.
He didn't recognize the man, nor did he have the time to think about who he was.
"My men will take it from here, Smoker," the man said in a voice that was far too calm.
Clearly, this man was joking.
Smoker turned to move around him and continue in his pursuit when two other men came from behind him and stood directly in his path.
He hadn't seen them previously. And now that he had a moment to assess the situation, he realized just how large this man was. He looked like he stood about seven feet tall and his outstretched hands were the size of dinner plates. He was a marine, obviously. Not wearing a typical uniform, but when he turned to nod at his men Smoker could see the edge of the "Justice" on the back of his jacket, and the handle of what was probably his military issued sea stone jutte.
"You're not authorized to be here."
Smoker looked at him, in disbelief that he'd even need to grace this statement with some kind of response.
"I do my job no matter where I am." He scanned the man's jacket looking for some kind of a name to address him by, but found nothing on the pale brown material.
"You can call me Vice Admiral Bloom," the man said, and the words slid out of his mouth in a way that made Smoker's teeth grind. "And I told you, my men will take it from here."
"Well, unless one of them ate a devil fruit that turns them into a human fire extinguisher.."
"I don't need your cocky attitude, Smoker. You're a joke on the Grand Line. You know that?"
Sure, he knew it. Didn't mean he cared.
"Then I guess you're willing to take the blame for this pirate getting away." He wondered for a moment if this wasn't staged. Ace would eventually lead them to Whitebeard. But the Government had been unofficially letting Whitebeard do as he pleased for years now. They couldn't possibly be ready to make their move yet. He scowled in resignation, having to admit to himself that there was a whole lot that he didn't know.
The only thing he was damn sure of was that this was a mockery of what the Government should be.
He sized up Bloom for a moment. He knew that the man had probably eaten a devil fruit and wasn't entirely sure what to expect should he make a break for it. He'd already wasted enough time here, and imagining Bloom's "men taking over" wasn't exactly making him feel any more secure about this.
There wasn't anything on his person to indicate what type of user he'd be. If he was an elemental, it would be almost pointless.
He dug his feet into the ground and bent his knees.
There was literally nothing to lose.
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Nothing was ever this easy, so Ace was wary when he reached the line of seemingly empty ships. There were a few marines chatting outside of the bars and they paid him no mind. He could be surprisingly good at not drawing attention to himself when he really put his mind to it.
He was unsure of whether this had anything to do with his skillful stealth or if it said more about the competency of these marines.
No wonder this was the Great Age of Pirates if these few rookies were the only thing standing between him and his escape.
He lowered a small boat from one of the ships. He'd thought about just taking the whole ship, but there probably wasn't time. His schooner was in two pieces and nothing was going to be quicker than that anyway.
He thought about how he could maybe hang a leg off of the back of the boat and propel himself that way. He shrugged…Hey, it was worth a try. The two thin oars inside of the boat were a much less appealing option. He imagined rowing away from a fleet of marine ships.
At least if it came to that, it would be a story to tell.
He was grinning now, untying the ropes and lowering the boat, in absolute disbelief that he'd actually gotten out of this. He had all the confidence in the world, but even Gold Roger was caught once. He hummed to himself just as the boat splashed in the water and swung a leg over the side of the ship, giving a mock salute to the island.
Nothing was ever this easy.
And the reason for the smell of smoke became all too apparent when he slumped back down on the deck under the weight of the jutte.