"Fire Fist!!" Two voices roared in perfect unison.
Two gargantuan pillars of flame surged forward, aimed directly at Admiral Aokiji.
"Pheasant Peck!"
Aokiji thrust his arm forward, releasing a massive bird sculpted from absolute-zero ice.
BOOM!
Ice and fire collided in a violent struggle of elemental supremacy. However, the combined force of Sabo and Ace proved superior; their double assault overpowered the frost.
"Leave Aokiji to us." Ace extended his fingers, sparks of fire dancing at his tips. His fighting spirit was reaching its zenith. Sabo stood beside him, a calm but resolute smile on his face.
Drake, watching from his position, was electrified. Two Mera Mera no Mi users simultaneously ganging up on the ice-man! It was a total elemental saturation. With Ace and Sabo working together, they actually stood a genuine chance of taking down an Admiral.
The tide of the war had officially shifted toward the Whitebeard Pirates. Because of the initial retreat order, the majority of the pirates were now concentrated at the harbor entrance, engaged in a fierce struggle against the Pacifista blocking their path.
The Pacifistas were powerful, but they were now facing not just the allied captains, but the elite Division Commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates. One by one, the human weapons were being dismantled.
The Marines, however, were not idle.
"FIRE!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless heavy cannons opened fire on the ships remaining in the bay. Warships and pirate vessels alike were being mercilessly sunk. The pirate fleet had already taken a beating throughout the day; under this concentrated bombardment, their escape options were dwindling to zero.
"Our ships!!" The Whitebeard Pirates realized the danger, their faces turning grim. Without ships, they would be sitting ducks at Marineford.
"Save what's left of the fleet! We can't get trapped here!"
The war reached a fever pitch.
"Find a way to get these off me!" Marco shouted urgently. Even in the heat of battle, he was being hobbled by Sea Prism Stone shackles, unable to contribute his full strength.
"We... we can't!" his comrades cried in frustration. "Without a key, these things are unbreakable!"
"A key... wait, that man!" one of them shouted.
"Which man?"
"The one who freed Ace! He can manifest keys!"
"Right! Find him!"
The Whitebeard Pirates began a frantic search for Mr. 3. The once-villainous Doru Doru no Mi user was being forcibly rebranded as the world's most essential locksmith. The "Utility Man" legend was becoming a reality.
Meanwhile, the battlefield had descended into a state of total chaos, far beyond Sengoku's calculations.
Emerging from the debris, Sengoku looked around with an expression of profound shame. "To think such a disaster occurred with me standing right here... it is a disgrace!"
Nearby, Garp crawled out of the rubble, blood trickling down his forehead. Since he had been facing Luffy, he hadn't used Haki, allowing Sabo's strike to actually land.
Well... on the surface, at least.
In reality, if a man with a combat power of 9,800 gets sent flying and stays down that long, you have to ask questions. Not intentional? Heh. Sure, Gramps.
Without needing orders, the battle moved into its final, most desperate phase. The Marines, driven by their conviction that no criminal should escape, fought with suicidal fervor.
On the elemental front, things were literally heating up.
"Mirror Flame!"
A golden sea of fire clashed with Aokiji's spreading frost. Sabo stood to the side, not idling, but deep in thought. He was contemplating new ways to utilize the Mera Mera no Mi.
He still didn't know how Drake had procured a second Flame-Flame Fruit, but he was certain of its power. And remarkably, this fruit didn't carry the curse of the sea!
Watching the golden sparks, Sabo felt a moment of enlightenment. He crouched low, sensing the flow of heat within his own body.
"Ice Age!"
Aokiji blurred through the steam and appeared before Ace, slamming a hand onto his shoulder. Frost raced across Ace's body, encasing him in a thick block of ice within seconds.
But an instant later, the ice shattered into steam as Ace erupted in a pillar of fire.
Aokiji was ready. He released a continuous stream of freezing air, chilling the very ground until the plaza itself was a sheet of permafrost. The struggle between absolute cold and searing heat intensified.
Ace seemed to be slightly losing ground. Aokiji's attacks were centered directly on Ace's body; as time passed, the constant cold was sapping Ace's stamina.
"You have no future. There is no 'after' for you. This is where you fall!"
"Extreme Ice Age!"
Under the pressure of this move, even Ace's flames began to dim, looking as if they might be frozen solid. Aokiji's breathing was heavy, showing that the technique was taxing even for an Admiral. It was the only way to suppress fire—overwhelming it with a superior volume of cold.
Aokiji's plan was logical: eliminate Ace, the primary fire user, first. Then his only natural counter would be gone.
Up until this point, everyone—including Aokiji—assumed Sabo's fire was just some secondary trick or gadget. In the world of Devil Fruits, the same power appearing in two people simultaneously was an impossibility.
Aokiji was about to learn a very painful lesson.
"Mirror Flame!"
Sabo thrust his hands forward, more than half of his body dissolving into golden flames. It was the unmistakable elementalization of a Logia user!
The golden fire swallowed Aokiji while he was still frozen in shock. The heat instantly evaporated his cold aura and slammed into his physical body.
BOOM!
Sengoku stared at the scene, his jaw tightening. What is this?
He wasn't the only one; everyone who saw it was paralyzed with confusion. Two Flame-Flame Fruits!?
Ace emerged from the receding flames, unscathed but equally surprised. "Sabo, that was..."
"It's the Mera Mera no Mi," Sabo said with a grin.
The crowd: "!!!"
"WHAT!?"
As the fire cleared, Aokiji's figure was revealed. Blood leaked from his mouth, and a large burn mark scarred his arm. He was clearly wounded.
"Admiral Kuzan!" the Marines cried out. To see an Admiral injured was a blow to their morale.
"How can there be two Flame-Flame Fruits!?" Aokiji asked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"The world is a big place. There are plenty of wonders," Sabo replied dismissively. He didn't actually have an answer, but he trusted Drake implicitly. That was enough.
"I see..." Ace smiled broadly. "Sabo, watch this move!"
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