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----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Your justice is a lie " Ace stated, the words cutting through the chaotic din of the battlefield. The white-hot flames around him intensified, casting a brilliant, sun-like glare that pushed back the shadows. "It's the self-righteous excuse of a tyrant who burns everything that doesn't fit his narrow view of the world. You don't protect people. You incinerate them."
Akainu's face, a mask of grim determination, twisted into a sneer. "The words of a criminal whelp. The son of the greatest sinner in history has no right to lecture me on justice."
With that, the Admiral lunged. He didn't move with the blinding speed of Kizaru or the fluid grace of Aokiji. He moved like a landslide, an unstoppable force of nature that tore up the very ground he crossed. His right arm transformed into a massive, bubbling claw of magma. "Dai Funka! (Great Eruption!)"
It was the same attack that had melted a chunk of an iceberg and boiled the sea. It was a blow meant not to defeat, but to utterly annihilate.
Ace stood his ground. He saw the attack not as a fist, but as a complex system of thermal energy and mass. Kenji's analytical mind and Ace's battle instincts screamed the same solution in perfect harmony: Don't meet force with force. Redirect. Suffocate.
He brought his hands together, palms facing the oncoming magma fist. His flames, now burning at a temperature that made the very air warp and shimmer, took on a new form. They were no longer wild and chaotic; they were compressed, controlled, and infused with every ounce of Armament Haki he could muster.
"Enkai: Boshu! (Flame Commandment: Confiscation!)"
Instead of a shield, Ace projected a swirling, concave vortex of dense, white-hot fire. It was not a solid barrier, but a spinning funnel. As Akainu's magma fist plunged into it, the vortex acted like a centrifuge for heat itself. The sheer velocity and Haki-infused nature of Ace's flames began to strip the thermal energy away from the magma, pulling the heat into the vortex while simultaneously cooling the rock.
The result was a spectacle that defied physics. Akainu's fist, still moving forward with immense momentum, was visibly hardening, the brilliant orange glow dimming to a dull cherry red, then to black. The attack lost its cohesion, and the fist of molten rock became a fist of brittle, cracking obsidian. It slammed into Ace's fiery vortex and disintegrated into a shower of black, glassy dust and superheated steam.
Ace pushed his hands forward, and the energy he had absorbed from Akainu's attack erupted outwards in a searing wave of pure, colorless heat that forced the Admiral to take a half-step back, a flicker of genuine shock in his eyes.
"He's not just blocking him," Marco the Phoenix yelled from a distance, his voice filled with disbelief as he kicked away a Pacifista laser. "He's fighting him on equal terms!"
Luffy, however, saw his brother facing an Admiral alone and his protective instincts took over. He drew his arm back, his leg pumping like a piston. "Gomu Gomu no... Jet Bazooka!"
He launched himself forward, his two Haki-less fists flying towards Akainu's back at incredible speed.
Akainu didn't even turn around. "Insects," he grunted. His back began to bubble, and a wave of magma erupted from it, not even as a named attack, but as a casual, reflexive defense. Luffy's fists, which could shatter steel, would be melted into useless stumps before they ever made contact.
"LUFFY, NO!" Ace roared, his heart seizing with the same terror he'd felt on the execution stand.
He moved faster than he ever had in his life. In a flicker of fire, he appeared between Luffy and Akainu's defense, his back to the Admiral. He crossed his arms in front of him, creating a wall of Haki-infused flame. Luffy's fists slammed harmlessly into the fiery barrier, the force of his own attack sending him rebounding backward.
At the same time, Akainu's magma wave crashed against Ace's back. Even with his Haki and Logia defenses, the sheer concussive force and overwhelming heat sent a jolt of agony through him. He gritted his teeth, his boots digging trenches in the ice as he slid back several feet, but he held. He had protected his brother.
"Stay back, Luffy!" Ace yelled over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off Akainu. "This is my fight! Get to Pops! Help with the retreat!"
"But Ace!"
"GO!" The command was laced with Conqueror's Haki, a sharp, undeniable order that made Luffy flinch. He saw the absolute resolve in his brother's eyes and, for once in his life, he listened. He nodded, a look of frustration and trust on his face, before turning to rejoin the chaos of the retreat.
Akainu reformed his body, his expression darker than ever. "How touching. The demon son protects his worthless little brother. You are just like your father, Whitebeard—a sentimental fool who collects strays and calls it a family. That weakness is why he will die here, and why your entire era is nothing but a pathetic footnote."
"Don't you dare talk about Pops! you fucking lava hound from COC" Ace roared, his control finally snapping. He exploded forward, his body becoming a comet of pure fire.
The true battle began. It was a clash of titans, a primal dance of fire and earth. Akainu's attacks were wide and devastating, each one capable of changing the landscape. He sent waves of magma, erupting fists, and showers of volcanic rock across the plaza. Ace, in contrast, was a blur of precision and control. He moved like a flicker of light, using his Observation Haki to anticipate Akainu's moves, dodging under magma waves and weaving between volcanic bullets.
His counterattacks were not grand explosions, but sharp, focused strikes. A spear of Haki-hardened fire to pierce a magma tendril. A whip of flames to shatter a solidified rock. He was fighting like a duelist against a barbarian, using technique to overcome brute strength. But the pressure was immense. Akainu was relentless, a walking volcano with seemingly limitless energy. Ace could feel his own reserves, already taxed, beginning to strain.
"You cannot win, Fire Fist," Akainu growled, pressing his advantage. "I am the superior element! I am the embodiment of Justice! I am the end of your filthy pirate dream!"
He brought his hands together, creating a massive, snarling dog's head out of magma. "Inugami Guren! (Dog-Bite Crimson Lotus!)"
The magma dog lunged, its jaws wide enough to swallow a giant, aimed at tearing Ace in half.
Ace knew he couldn't dodge this one. It was too big, too fast. He had to meet it head-on. He poured every last drop of his remaining strength into a final, desperate gambit.
"Dai Enkai: Entei! (Great Flame Commandment: Flame Emperor!)"
He created a colossal sphere of fire, a miniature sun held between his hands. It was the ultimate expression of the Mera Mera no Mi, a technique he had used to destroy fleets. He hurled it forward to meet the magma dog.
The two attacks collided. For a single, silent moment, sun and volcano fought for dominance. Then, reality broke. The explosion was absolute. A hemisphere of white light and black smoke tore across the center of Marineford, vaporizing the ice, shattering the stone, and sending a shockwave that knocked pirates and Marines off their feet for miles.
When the smoke cleared, both men were still standing. Ace was on one knee, panting heavily, his body steaming and his vision blurring. He had put everything into that last attack. Akainu was likewise breathing heavily, his uniform tattered, his body covered in burns that were slowly regenerating. He was wounded, but far from beaten.
"It seems I underestimated you," Akainu said, a drip of magma falling from his lip. "You have the potential to be a true threat. Which is why you must be eradicated, right here, right now."
He raised his magma fist one more time, stalking towards the exhausted Ace. "This is the end."
Ace looked up, his body refusing to move. He had fought. He had protected his brother. But it wasn't enough. He closed his eyes, a bitter smile on his face. At least... I didn't run. If only I had some time to fully restore my strength.
The magma fist descended.
It never landed.
A sound like cracking glass filled the air, but the source was not the ice. It was the air itself. A massive, gleaming white blade, the size of a small boat, blocked Akainu's path. Standing between the Admiral and Ace was the towering form of Edward Newgate.
"You seem to be bullying my son, Sakazuki," Whitebeard said, his voice dangerously calm.
Akainu's eyes widened. "Whitebeard..."
"I believe," the old pirate continued, his grip on his bisento tightening, "that you owe him an apology."
He didn't wait for an answer. He pulled his free hand back, and a shimmering, white sphere of quake energy formed around his fist. He leaned in close to Akainu, his eyes filled with the cold fury of a father protecting his child.
"I'm not in a forgiving mood."
He threw the punch. It was not aimed at Akainu's head or chest. It was aimed at the world beneath him. The point-blank quake shattered the plaza, the island, and the very atmosphere. Akainu, caught in the epicenter, let out a strangled cry as the vibrational energy tore through him, bypassing his Logia defenses and shattering him from the inside out. He was sent flying like a ragdoll, crashing through a dozen buildings before disappearing from sight.
Whitebeard stood tall, the undisputed King. But then, his victory stance wavered. His eyes widened, and he lurched forward, clutching his chest. A violent, wracking cough shook his massive frame, and a torrent of blood, far more than ever before, erupted from his mouth, staining the white of his glorious mustache a deep, dark crimson.
The invincible Emperor, the World's Strongest Man, fell to one knee.