The battlefield had turned into a dance of elemental destruction. Flames, ice, lava, chains, and steel — it was like nature itself had declared war.
And in the middle of it all stood Ace and Gunnar.
The wind snapped as they rushed forward together, side by side, blackened fists pulsing with Armament Haki.
"Oi oi!" shouted a pirate from the crew stands, pointing excitedly.
"Look at that! They're already using hardening? That's fast!"
"Ace using Haki now? When did that happen?!"
"Gunnar too?! I thought the lava was scary enough!"
CLANG!!*
Ace's fist, black as obsidian, collided with Fossa's blade, sparks flying.
BOOM!
Gunnar smashed a lava-hardened punch into the ground, a jagged crack shooting toward Marco like a tremor.
Marco flapped once, lifting effortlessly into the sky, dodging the quake with grace.
"You two..." he muttered, watching them from above, "...are so annoyin'."
He darted down with a blazing spin, flame wings swirling around him like a storm.
Gunnar ducked, Ace flipped back, but Marco twisted like a phoenix tornado—
WHOOSH—
And before they could blink, he grabbed them both by the neck mid-motion.
"Gotcha."
They flailed in his flaming grip, limbs kicking uselessly as Marco ascended high into the air**, flames crackling wildly around them.
"Oi, this is not fair!" Ace coughed.
"Damn bird! You fight dirty!" Gunnar yelled.
Marco rolled his eyes mid-flight.
"You talk too much."
And then, he dropped them.
"KYAAAAAaaaaaaa—!!"
But mid-fall, Ace and Gunnar locked eyes, nodded, and both flung their hands out, grabbing Marco's ankles as they dropped.
"Wait. Wait—what are you—"
"BODY SLAMMMMM!!"
WHAMMMM!!!
A mushroom cloud of dust exploded as all three of them crashed into the battlefield, Marco pancake between the two lunatics.
The crew watching burst out laughing.
"What the hell was that?!"
"They suplexed Marco! They used Marco to break their fall!"
"Marco's gonna be pissed, HAHAHA!"
Gunnar sat up first, brushing soot off his shoulder.
"Ugh… my ribs."
"Did you see that? That was the perfect flying body press," Ace grinned, coughing smoke.
Marco lay between them, eyes rolling.
"You two... are a nightmare..."
He vanished in a puff of blue flame, reappearing standing, hair slightly charred, cracking his neck.
"Alright. Playtime's over."
FWOOSH!
His wings burst fully open, flames shimmering with mythic intensity.
"You're gonna regret that one."
Gunnar and Ace turned to each other.
"...We probably shouldn't have done that."
"Yeah. But worth it."
Back on the sidelines, pirates hooted louder.
"Best match ever!"
"They're fighting like idiots!"
"Marco's gonna cook them both like chicken nuggets!"
Isshin, calmly dodging Rakuyo's chain again, gave a small sigh.
"...Children."
---
The dust was just settling from Marco's crash landing when the battlefield reignited with chaos.
BOOM!
A geyser of flame burst from Marco's right wing as he surged forward with murder in his eyes.
"No more flying tricks," he growled.
"Let's see you handle a real phoenix."
FWOOSH!
He spun midair, delivering a flaming heel-kick toward Gunnar.
Gunnar casually leaned back, narrowly avoiding it, only for Rakuyo's **chain-sickle** to whip from the side and wrap around his leg.
"Gotcha, big guy!" Rakuyo laughed.
"Did you?" Gunnar grinned, his lava-coated leg suddenly heating up to melting temperatures.
SIZZLE!!
"AAAHHH! HOT HOT HOT HOT!" Rakuyo screamed, releasing the chain midair, hopping like a monkey whose tail got lit on fire.
Meanwhile, Fossa swung his dual swords in wide arcs at Isshin, trying to land a clean blow. But Isshin wasn't just dodging—he was styling.
He twirled his blade like a dancer, sheathed it mid-motion, then sliced in a flash—
CLANG!—just enough to disarm Fossa, then… handed the sword back?
"You dropped this," Isshin said flatly.
"Wha—? I—I didn't drop it, you psycho!"
Back to the Chaos Corner...
Ace reappeared behind Marco in a plume of fire, tossing fireballs like dodgeballs.
"Incoming! Flaming fastballs! Woohoo!"
Marco smacked two away mid-flight, annoyed.
"Stop throwing literal fireballs! I'm made of fire, idiot!"
"So am I! That's what makes it funny!"
Suddenly, Gunnar leapt behind Marco, fists encased in ice and lava, forming a brief swirl of steam as he cocked back both arms.
"Fire sandwich."
"Wait—what—"
WHAM!
Marco got double-punched on both sides of his head, flames popping off like fireworks.
POW!
He exploded into blue fire and reformed midair—a little dizzy.
"That's it. I'm not holding back anymore," Marco muttered, wobbling slightly.
Then— WHIP!
Rakuyo's chain came flying again—except this time it wrapped around Ace's leg.
"Gotcha!" Rakuyo declared triumphantly.
"DÉJÀ VU, DUMMY!" Ace yelled, turning into fire and letting the chain pass through him.
The chain recoiled—right into Rakuyo's own face.
"AGHHH! WHY DO I KEEP HURTING ME!?"
Fossa, desperate now, charged Gunnar, swords crossed.
"Your fancy lava and ice don't scare me—!"
Gunnar raised a single pinky.
"Boop."
He gently tapped the ground.
KRRRRRRAAAAK!!
A lava spike burst from the earth and yeeted Fossa into the sky like a rocket.
"AAAAAAA!!!"
Back in midair, Marco dove once more, wings stretched wide. He grabbed Ace AND Gunnar again—this time by the waists—and started _spinning_ like a flaming drill.
"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!!"
"Oh no, not again!" Ace cried.
"We're the drill bits now!" Gunnar screamed.
SPIN SPIN SPIN SPIN—CRASH!!!
They slammed into the ground with a flaming explosion, dust cloud rising like a volcanic blast.
The crew outside howled.
"They're all insane!"
"This is the best match ever!"
"Is that a bird? A man? A missile?!"
"Why are they laughing?! They're literally dying out there!"
Smoke rose. The battlefield was scorched. Trees snapped. Craters everywhere.
In the middle of it all…
Ace lay on top of Gunnar.
"You good?"
"I think I saw my soul leave my body."
"Cool. Wanna do that again?"
"Yup."
Marco emerged from a bush. Covered in twigs. One feather on fire.
"I hate you both."
---
On the side, Smoothie sat on the referee chair, sipping coconut water.
"Battle is still ongoing," she announced, expression flat.
"They're still breathing, so I guess that counts," one of the crewmates laughed.
"This... is what peak brotherhood looks like," another sniffled.