Chapter 4: Clash
Following Terao's men through the twisting paths of Gray Terminal, Axel soon arrived at a more secluded stretch of ground.
Before he even reached the clearing, he heard it.
The sharp crack of pipes striking flesh.
The scrape of shoes against dirt.
The rough shouts of grown men getting beaten by children they had no business underestimating.
By the time he stepped out far enough to see clearly, the fight was already well underway.
Three boys stood at the center of the mess.
One had freckles scattered across his face and a sharp, handsome look far colder than any child his age should have. He wielded a length of pipe like it was an extension of his arm, every movement fast, aggressive, and direct.
Portgas D. Ace.
Beside him was a blond boy with short hair, a top hat, and a pair of goggles strapped around it. His expression was calmer, more composed, but the way he fought was no less efficient. If Ace was a blade, then this one was a knife hidden in a gentleman's sleeve.
Sabo.
And then there was the third.
A black haired boy with a simple, guileless face and a straw hat slung behind him. Even in the middle of a brawl, there was something almost absurdly straightforward about him, as if the entire world could be reduced to whether his friends were winning or losing.
Monkey D. Luffy.
Even if the art style of reality differed from manga panels and anime frames, the three of them were unmistakable.
Scattered all around them were the men Terao's people had sent ahead.
Some were clutching bruised ribs.
Some were flat on the ground, groaning.
A few had already decided that consciousness was overrated.
The three boys noticed the newcomers almost immediately.
Ace clicked his tongue in annoyance, eyes hardening. "More of them? Great. Sabo, Luffy, we're breaking through fast. If Bluejam gets here before we're out, it'll get ugly."
"Got it," Sabo replied at once.
"Okay!" Luffy shouted, full of energy as if this were some kind of game.
Then, without waiting for the adults to take the initiative, the three boys attacked first.
Terao's men were furious.
"Brats!"
"You little punks are asking for it!"
Weapons were drawn in a flurry of curses, and the group surged forward.
Then reality hit them in the face.
Ace and Sabo were vastly stronger than they had any right to be at that age. Their pipes cut through the air with speed and force that would have put many grown men to shame. One strike dropped a thug. A second sent another reeling. Their coordination was rough, but their instincts were excellent, and their movements were backed by real combat experience.
Luffy, meanwhile, seemed almost casual by comparison. He hung back just enough to let Ace and Sabo do most of the work, only stepping in now and then to flatten whichever unlucky fool wandered into range.
The difference in power was immediate and brutal.
What had begun as an angry rush quickly turned into hesitation.
Hesitation turned into fear.
And fear turned into the oldest tactic of cowards everywhere.
"Retreat!"
The moment one man shouted it, the atmosphere collapsed. Those who still had enough sense left to run immediately did so, scrambling back the way they had come.
In the blink of an eye, the field was nearly empty.
Only one figure remained where he stood.
A small, masked child wrapped in black cloth.
Axel.
Ace's eyes locked onto him at once.
He had noticed earlier that this one had come with the others, yet unlike the rest, he had not made a move. That only made him more suspicious. The kid was smaller than even they were, but in Gray Terminal, appearances meant very little.
If he came with the enemy, then he was the enemy.
Ace did not hesitate.
With a sharp step, he leaped forward and swung his pipe downward with frightening force, the weapon cutting through the air in a heavy arc aimed straight at Axel's head.
To Axel, the motion was obvious.
Far too obvious.
Ace was fast by the standards of a normal child, but Axel's perception and processing ability were on a completely different level. He could see the line of attack clearly. He could redirect it. Block it. Reflect it. Break Ace's balance apart and send him flying with a thought.
But he had not come here to fight them.
So instead of meeting the blow head on, Axel gave a light tap of his foot against the ground. Vectors shifted. Force surged through his body.
Crack.
Tiny fractures spread beneath where he had stepped, and his body shot backward in an instant.
Ace's pipe crashed down into empty air.
The blow nearly carried him too far, and he had to forcefully halt the swing before his own momentum pulled him off balance.
The moment he regained his footing, Ace's expression changed.
Surprise.
Wariness.
This masked kid... was not simple.
"Sabo," Ace called without taking his eyes off Axel, "be careful. This one's different."
Sabo had already seen enough to understand that. He gave a short nod, gaze sharpening.
"Yeah."
Unfortunately, there was one problem with all this caution.
Luffy.
The instant Ace and Sabo finished speaking, Luffy had already charged straight in.
"Take this!"
He swung his pipe at Axel with all the enthusiasm of a child who had never once considered the possibility of subtlety.
Axel did not move.
There was no need.
Luffy's swing was completely off.
The pipe smashed into the ground with a loud bang before it could even get close to Axel.
And because Luffy was Luffy, the force rebounded right back into his own arm.
"Agh!"
His hand went numb. The pipe slipped from his grip. A second later, he tumbled face first onto the dirt and slid to a stop practically at Axel's feet.
Axel stared down at him.
For a rare moment, he was speechless.
...This idiot really knocked himself over.
"Ace," Sabo muttered flatly, "your brother is incredible in all the wrong ways."
Ace looked like he wanted to deny it, but reality had come too fast.
"That idiot..." he cursed, immediately rushing in to grab Luffy.
At the same time, Sabo lunged from the side, attacking Axel to cover Ace's recovery.
This time the pipe came in at a sharp angle, aimed with far more precision.
Axel raised an arm.
Clack!
The pipe struck his forearm and stopped cold.
Before Sabo could react, Axel twisted slightly, redirecting the force, dragging the pipe off its original line. In the same motion, he stepped in, closed the gap, and grabbed Sabo by the collar with his free hand.
It all happened in an instant.
Ace had only just reached Luffy when his eyes widened.
Sabo had already been caught.
Axel did not waste the opening. He pressed down with one foot, kicked off the ground, and shot forward with a burst of speed that made the dirt crack under him.
In the next moment, he was in front of Ace.
Before Ace could even fully straighten up, Axel's other hand seized his collar too.
Now both boys were caught.
Ace and Sabo reacted instantly, trying to wrench themselves free. But the slender arm holding each of them felt absurdly strong, like iron wrapped in pale skin. No matter how they twisted, they could not break loose.
They counterattacked without hesitation.
Pipes swung.
Fists struck.
But the attacks landed on Axel's body and did absolutely nothing.
To Ace and Sabo, it felt less like hitting a person and more like striking something fundamentally wrong.
There was impact.
But no result.
Luffy finally scrambled back to his feet, blinking in confusion.
He had no idea what had happened between falling down and getting up, but the scene before him was more than enough.
Ace and Sabo had been captured.
That meant only one thing.
He had to save them.
Without even bothering to retrieve his pipe, Luffy charged forward and threw a punch straight at Axel.
Axel saw it coming.
He could have neutralized it.
Could have reflected it perfectly.
Could have sent Luffy bouncing off the ground hard enough to leave a crater.
Instead, he made only a partial adjustment.
The punch landed.
Then Luffy yelped as the rebound hurled him backward like he had punched a wall that punched back.
"Luffy!" Ace and Sabo shouted at the same time.
The force sent him flying several meters before he bounced once, rolled twice, and sprawled out in the dirt.
The moment their attention shifted, Axel released Ace and Sabo.
The two hit the ground, recovered immediately, and sprang backward without the slightest hesitation. In an instant, they had regrouped a short distance away, eyes fixed on Axel with undisguised caution.
Neither of them understood why he had let go.
But neither of them was foolish enough to waste the chance.
Luffy, thanks to his rubber body, had not been seriously hurt. He groaned, rubbed his head, and staggered back up.
Ace and Sabo took their stances again.
The path to the forest was not far.
If they could break away and reach the trees, they had confidence they could escape. No matter how strange Axel's abilities were, the forest was their territory.
Sabo flicked his eyes toward Ace, silently urging retreat.
Ace did not move.
His gaze stayed fixed on Axel.
Once he set his jaw like that, he looked absurdly stubborn.
Sabo recognized the expression instantly and felt a headache coming on.
"Ace," he said under his breath, "don't tell me..."
Ace's answer was as direct as expected.
"If I've already engaged someone, I'm not running."
Sabo stared at him for half a second, then nearly exploded.
"What kind of nonsense is that? Did you miss the part where he caught both of us like we were sacks of potatoes?" he snapped. "We can't beat him right now, Ace!"
Ace did not so much as blink.
His eyes remained steady, locked on Axel as if measuring him all over again.
Seeing that look, Sabo exhaled sharply through his nose.
"You absolute idiot," he muttered. Then his expression firmed. "Fine. If you're staying, then I'm staying too. That's what brothers are for."
Luffy, having finally returned to their side, threw a hand up enthusiastically.
"Me too! Me too!"
The tension in the clearing shifted.
Three boys.
Bruised, dusty, outmatched, and still ready to charge in again.
Axel watched them in silence for a moment.
Then, with a faint frown, he reached up and slowly pulled down the black cloth covering his face.
His pale features were revealed beneath the moonlight.
Delicate.
Beautiful, even.
So much so that it instantly clashed with the image of the dangerous opponent they had just been facing.
Axel looked at the three brothers and frowned harder.
"Why are you making me sound like the bad guy?" he said. "I'm not here to fight you."