Wrinkly entering the battle was a little unnerving for the pirates; after all, they had heard the stories of his heroics.

"We're up against him too? The legendary hero Wrinkly?"

"He may be over the hill now, but 20 years ago, that guy who was in the neck with Roger Gold might be the strongest marine the Navy has ever seen."

"He did just by Gold Roger; he beat his rival too. When Leo the Golden Lion launched an attack on Marineford, Wrinkly was the one who locked him up in Impel Down."

Stoick then turned to his nervous crew. "We didn't come all the way here just to lose to an old man! Legend ain't nothing but words."

"I might suggest the same thing to you, Stoick," said Magnus as he raised his magma-covered fist. "Your glory days are just a dying memory now! Howel Blaze!"

As he swung his fist at Stoick, it transformed into a wolf's head, but Stoick cut right through with his battleaxe, cutting right through the attack and sending it crashing into the city.

"Damn," said Magnus. "Are you going to destroy this entire city?"

"Send me the bill for repairs when we're done," Stoick smirked.

Sander looked down at the injured executioners. "This is ridiculous! Just execute him!"

"All right, go and get a substitute immediately," said a Marine as he tended to the injured executioners.

"Sir!"

Sander turned his eye back to the battlefield; things had not been going as planned.

"Make a path! Keep pushing towards the scaffold!"

The Marines started buckling as the pirates began cutting their way through. The Pacifistas continued to attack the pirates, making up for the marine shortfall.

"Ironic, I know, but I forgot about those things."

The Pacifistas began to fire their mouth lasers.

"No more lasers for you today; that's enough!" a pirate with the scythe yelled.

He sliced through the chest of one of the Pacifistas before it had a chance to fire.

"Did you think we will weakling is?" said a pirate with a lance. He jumped in the air and plunged his lance into the neck of the Pacifista. "We're from the New World."

Another pirate began shooting the Pacifista.

All three attacks had done a number on the Pacifista, which began to lose its balance and accidentally misfired its hand laser. The hand laser struck through the chest of one of the Pacifistas next to it and blasted the head of another.

"Now is our chance!"

With three of the Pacifistas taken down, the pirates seized the opportunity and began to use this to their advantage.

Hiccup, on the other hand, was still out cold and didn't look as if he was going to wake up any time soon.

"How is he?" Mala asked the surgeon.

The surgeon shook his head. "It isn't good. First aid isn't going to cut it, I'm afraid. We've got to get out of here and fast."

'The odds were against him from the start, but this is too cruel,' said Mala gravely. She then turned her head towards the scaffold. 'He's so close.'

Ace was forced to watch the battle and see his friends slaughtered. In an act of shame, he lowered his head towards the ground.

Sander looked at him. "A final moment of regret?"

Wrinkly looked up at Ace. 'Poor boy.'

Ace began thinking back to when he was a child living in the Goa Kingdom. He ventured into the main capital city and began asking people about his father, his birth father.

He ran to a small gang of hooligans in the back alleys and asked them about Roger Gold.

"Roger Gold? Yeah, of course, I know who he is," said the pack leader. "But who gives a crap? People talk like he's something special, but what did he even do? He just riled up a bunch of crazy criminals, and thanks to that bastard, the entire world is screwed up."

"And what does that mean?" Ace asked.

"There's no way you're that stupid. Everyone knows that before he was executed, he told some BS story about hidden treasure to give a middle finger to the Government. But either way, it worked because a bunch of dumb pirates bought into the whole thing and went nuts."

"Don't you get it? He left behind a stain that people can't clean up."

"Even killing the bastard wasn't enough now. Thanks to him, we've got put up a bunch of human garbage, pissing on everyone else following his lead. He is the biggest piece of crap that ever lived. He stings even after we flush him, just like you kid."

They all laughed, and Ace clenched his fist, having difficulty controlling his anger. They then began to walk away, but the gang leader noticed Ace glaring at them.

"Did I hurt your little feelings? Are you in the Roger fan club?"

"Yeah, something you want to say, kid?"

Ace lost his temper and immediately punched one of the guys, knocking him out cold instantly. Then, before they had any time to react, Ace beat them to a pulp.

Ace returned to the outskirts of the village and looked out towards the open sea. It was then that a muscular woman with blazing red hair approached him.

"You started trouble again, Ace?" she asked. "What was it this time?"

Ace just looked at her.

"Everyone is making a fuss about some thugs that got beaten near to death by a kid."

"That's too bad," said Ace, looking back out to the open sea. "I was hoping they would die."

"Don't give me that," she snapped. "You realise every time you pull this kinda crap, I am the one who gets chewed out for it. Hey, are you listening?"

Ace just remained silent.

"Honestly, I don't understand why an old fool was thinking of even a boy like you with me," she sighed. "Stoick had everything set until the old man intervened."

Ace continued asking people about Roger; this time, he asked some men in black suits, who were a little higher up in the criminal food chain than the thugs he asked.

"What? You want me to tell you about Roger?"

Ace nodded.

The gang leader then exhaled the smoke from his cigarette. "He was a liar." He then pointed his cigarette at Ace. "And a murderer and unmissable thief to boot. Only jackasses believe his crap."

"King of the Pirates, King of the Champs, he is dead either way."

"Got that right."

They all laughed, and Ace glared at them as he clenched his fist.

Ace then went to the tavern and asked one of the clientele there, but he was a little more focused on his drinking.

"Roger, huh?" he grunted. "I'm trying to enjoy a drink over here, kid. The man was a hack, now piss off."

Ace just narrowed his eyes at him and refused to move.

"Hear me? Beat it, kid!" he snapped.

Ace clenched his fist and then punched the man across the face.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing, you little punk?"

It soon turned into a full brawl, a punch-up to end all punch-ups.

Ace was in his usual place, looking out to sea covered in cuts and bruises.

Wrinkly chuckled when he saw him. "I should see the other guy, right?" He then stopped and sat down behind Ace. "Ace, you can't keep doing this, kiddo."

"I heard that Hiccup arrived on the island a few days ago," said Ace. "Is he happy with himself?"

"Hiccup?" Wrinkly blinked. "I think he is. The boy has grown up in fine feather."

"Old man?"

"Yeah?" Wrinkly frowned curiously.

"Tell me the truth. Did I deserve to be born, or was it just a mistake?"

Wrinkly looked up, surprised by this question. "That's not for me to say. You just keep living and hope you find out."

Back in the present, Ace was reeling in from guilt, and Wrinkly could do nothing but watch.

"Quick, carry Hiccup Haddock back to the ship," said Mala. She then looked back towards the scaffold. 'It is not ideal, but we will have to save Ace Portgas without him.'

Hiccup then suddenly grabbed her leg. "Mala…"

"Calm down, take it easy," she said gently.

"I need one last favour from you," said Hiccup.

The pirates were still storming the Plaza, getting as close as I could towards the scaffold.

"We're coming for you, Ace!"

"The Navy never stood a chance!"

"This is wrong," Ace cried. "Damnit!"

Both Astrid and Jinbe were cutting their way through the Marines.

"My friend, don't lose hope," said Jinbe, looking up at Ace. "I swear that I shall save your life no matter how much blood is spilled."

"Don't give up, Ace!" Astrid yelled. "We're almost there!"

"Don't let them get you down, Ace!"

"Yeah, we won't leave you!"

"We're brothers we stick together!"

"Dammit, this is all wrong!" Ace cried. "How the hell am I supposed to feel? Stoick, Hiccup, Astrid, my friends, they're all here to save me, but they're pushing through a sea of their own blood to do it."

"Don't say one last anything," said Mala as she looked at Hiccup. "We're getting out of here alive."

"You know what I need," said Hiccup.

"I'm sick!" Ace cried. "These are tears of joy. Even after all that I've done, I want to live."

Wrinkly just sat on the throne crying as well.

Hiccup squeezed his grip on Mala's leg and looked at her defiantly. "Help me."

"You do realise what the repercussions will be don't you?" Mala asked.

Hiccup looked at her and nodded.

Meanwhile, in the bay, Buggy and his followers were finally defrosted from Asmund's attack.

"Captain Buggy!"

"He's alive! I knew it all along!"

"Geez, what happened?" Buggy asked. "We okay?"

"Asmund just throws you solid; it was really freaky."

Asmund hadn't frozen all of Buggy's followers; some had just been outside his range. They quickly surrounded Buggy the moment Asmund had left.

"Captain Buggy?!"

"Oh no, it's too late."

"No, he was so beautiful. So perfect. He was going to conquer the world, damnit, the world!"

The situation got worse when Magnus began launching his attack upon the ice. Quickly, his followers grabbed all their frozen compatriots, but they accidentally dropped Buggy.

"Oh no!"

They watched Buggy slide across the ice until he fell into the open water. A split second later, Buggy shot out of the water and began screaming, mostly due to the hot water.

"He got hit by the ice attack on purpose to show us how to heal everyone else."

"Even when he is frozen solid, he's still thinking of his friends."

"Quick, let's thaw out the other guys before it's too late."

"Okay."

Buggy was having difficulty keeping himself afloat since he couldn't swim. "I'm drowning over here! You might want to rescue your saviour first! Remember, I can't swim!"

"Captain Buggy?!"

They quickly jumped into the sea to pull Buggy back onto the ice.

"We were blinded by your godlike glory and forgot about the whole Devil Fruit thing."

"You saved us so many times, and we almost let you down. I'm sorry."

Buggy was somewhat taken aback by this devotion but quickly pulled himself together and rose to his feet.

"Sue me, I'm not omnipotent, but so long as you still worship me, we're good," he said.

He then smiled slyly. 'Looks like I've still got my luck and my lackeys.'

He then noticed that Mr 3 was missing. "By the way, where did Mr 3 run off to?"

"I'm not sure. The last time we saw him was before those walls trapped us here, and everything went to hell."

Buggy clenched his fist. 'That little rat. He made it out, didn't he?'

It was then that he noticed the walls for the first time. "You mean these walls with the cannons?"

"The Navy lured everyone and then trapped them with these things. After that, it was ice and meteors, boiling water and well… we're trapped."

"Oh, are we?" said Buggy, sounding unconvinced. "Because the great Captain Buggy would never have made it this far in life if he surrendered every time he ran into a measly wall or two." He then pointed the finger directly at the walls. "Do you hear that, Navy? Buggy's coming for ya! No walls or ice or giant magma fists can stop me!"

His followers looked at him in awe, like all the other times.

"Awesome! You've already been defrosted for a couple of minutes, but you're like, bam, let's do this!"

"That's how I roll," Buggy smiled. Of course, all this was a façade. 'Okay, seriously, now what?'

Inside the Plaza, the fighting continued, and no one was fighting harder than Stoick.

"Now move, Magma Punk!" Stoick ordered as he swung his battleaxe.

Magnus quickly jumped out of the way, but no sooner had he swung his axe than Stoick winced. The room that he had received early was finally taking its toll, and he was beginning to spit out blood.

"Are you okay?" his men asked.

"Squall in, just argue with his sword," said Magnus as he approached. "I also laced it with a poison. Right now, it should be destroying you from the inside out." He then clenched his magma-covered fist.

"Damnit, how could we have let this happen?" Gobber groaned in frustration as he rushed towards Stoick.

Kia smiled. "I wouldn't turn your back on me if I were you."

He then fired several lasers, which shot right through Gobber while his back was turned.

"Gobber!" Sven yelled, turning his head away from Asmund.

Asmund took advantage of this opportunity. "Are you going to make the same mistake?"

Suddenly, he froze Sven's arm, and the frost consumed his body.

Stoick struggled to get back onto his feet, and Magnus continued to approach him as molten lava began dripping from his hand. "Someone has to see you off, and that duty seems to have fallen on me."

He then punched Stoick in the chest with his magma-covered fist, which was followed by an explosion.

"Stoick, no?!" Ace cried.

"Damn, not good!"

"Oh, crap!"

Gustav was rushing to the battlefield, but Sven stopped him.

"Hey! It's a little late for a change of heart now," he said. "No offence, but they don't need you anymore. I think we all know that the Navy has got this one. Magnus got Stoick, Kai took out Gobber, and Asmund froze Sven. You wouldn't kick a man while he is down, so don't run out there just to pick up scraps. And if you're looking to test yourself against Dragon again, he's out too. Even the strongest pirates in the world have been stopped. Good to know that we're on the winning team this time."

Gustav suddenly felt quite depressed. 'Even with all his strength, Hiccup couldn't make his dream come true, but at least he fought. All I've done is run, I don't pass as a Navy soldier, let alone an Admiral. It's useless… I'm useless.'

"Come on, you should be happy," said Sven. "Our team has just scored a massive victory. I bet they'll throw a party."

Gustav glared at him and turned his eyes back to the battlefield.

Mala just stared at Hiccup in astonishment at his request.

"Another hormone shot?!" she yelled. "Do you want to die? You've passed your limit. I am sorry, but you have been burning your candle from both ends for far too long. Have you forgotten that poison you have suffered through? You cheated death once. I did not save you so that you can destroy yourself. I told you this last time, my hormones are not a magic fix-me-up that you can take every time something goes wrong. I want to save Ace Portgas just as much as you do, but if you keep on misusing my power like this, you will die."

Hiccup then pulled her towards him and looked at her with resolute eyes. "So long as I do everything I can… I do not care if I die. I am begging you; you have to let me fight."

Mala was very reluctant to do such a thing. Hiccup pulled her even closer towards his face. "If I don't keep fighting, then they'll kill Ace because I wasn't there for him. Then I would rather be dead anyway. Right now, the only fight that matters is whether to live or die."

"And what would I tell your mother if I let you die like a dog due to my deadly Devil Fruit power?" Mala yelled. "This stubbornness of yours is getting out of hand!"

Within the base, an inpatient Marine was talking to the executioner.

"Where is the replacement? What the hell is taking him so long?" the Marine asked.

"Well, it was short notice, and we don't do this very often," the executioner pointed out. They then heard footsteps as the second executioner approached. "Hey, ready?"

The executioner nodded.

"Fine, let's move," said the Marine.

They then began to move out.

Hiccup was still determined to rescue Ace and looked directly towards the scaffold.

"Ace," he said.

Mala's face grimaced, but she could see that he would try to rescue his brother regardless of what would put his life in danger.

"Oh, fine," she relented. She then held out her hand and extended her nails. "It's your life."

She then injected him with her hormones.

"Wait? What are you doing?" a pirate asked.

Mala didn't answer and pulled her nails away.

Hiccup then rose to his feet, feeling a new burst of energy coursing through his body. He then took on his dragon form and roared as loudly as he could.

"He got back up," said Sven, shocked. "No way, Kia hit him dead on. It's a miracle he's even alive. Let alone able to transform and roar like that."

Gustav stood there, clenching his fists before rushing into the battlefield.

"Wait!" Sven cried. "When you think you're going? You will get hurt!"

He then lost sight of them as cannon fire hit the ground, creating a cloud of smoke.

"Gustav," he said.

Gustav kept running, rushing towards Hiccup, knowing that if he wouldn't give up, he shouldn't either. 'I won't run away.'

"Hiccup," said Ace softly.

"Ace!" Hiccup yelled at the top of his voice.