The moment Wayne ended the call, he spotted a winged silhouette beating toward the island. Robin had caught the signal.
He turned back to Ace and said calmly, "Alright, kid, I have had my fun. Time to send you to the underworld."
Raising his sword, he made a show of delivering the "final blow."
"So this is where my voyage ends?" Ace muttered, despair tugging at his face. For the first time he felt absolute helplessness before the masked swordsman.
"Thousand-Petal Bloom: Giant Palm!"
A colossal hand appeared in mid-air and slammed onto Wayne.
"Blast it-"
He pretended to resist, let the palm crush the rocks around him, and then "disappeared" beneath the rubble. While the dust billowed, he splashed pre-prepared stage blood over himself to fake grave injuries.
Several paces away, Ace stared wide-eyed. The invincible stranger had been felled in an instant?
After a while, Wayne clawed out of the debris, coat in tatters, dripping red. He roared at Robin in the sky, "You lousy woman! I am a trainee of the Cleaver Pirates. How dare you ambush me!"
Robin answered with an airy laugh. "A trainee from some third-rate crew who ran squealing from the Grand Line? Pathetic."
Wayne hurled a few token air slashes that Robin dodged with ease, then snarled, "Just wait. I will make you pay for this!"
He kicked off with Moon-Walk and "limped" toward Loguetown.
"Hold it, rookie!" Robin flapped after him, wings of blossoming arms beating the air. Soon the pair vanished in the distance.
"I-I'm alive…?" Ace collapsed on the sand, panting, relief washing through him. Exhaustion claimed him and he slipped into sleep.
A voice roused him. "Captain! Captain Ace!"
His crew had returned by lifeboat. Deuce, the eyepatch-wearing first mate, nearly sobbed with joy on finding Ace breathing.
Propped up by his men, Ace related the entire fight. Deuce's face went pale. "So this is the terror of the Grand Line."
Ace nodded grimly. "We grew arrogant after a few easy wins in the weakest sea. Today proved how far below true power we stand."
"No one died," Deuce said, forcing a smile. "That alone is a blessing."
Ace drew a deep breath. "We head home to Windmill Village. We train until we can protect ourselves only then do we challenge the Grand Line."
"Captain, look what I found." One sailor held out a thin notebook recovered from the ruins. Across the cover, bold characters read Notes on Advanced Armament Haki.
"Armament Haki!" Ace flipped through the pages, recognizing the technique Wayne had demonstrated. Joy sparked in his tired eyes. So the masked man had dropped the manual in his hasty retreat.
"We are still weak," Ace said, clutching the notebook. "First we heal, then we master this, then we set sail again."
Hidden far overhead, Wayne watched with Observation Haki. When Ace discovered the notebook, Wayne finally relaxed. If the boy had missed it, he would have had to stage another scene.
"Looks like Ace will stay out of the Grand Line for now," he murmured in relief. Mission accomplished delay Ace, avert his death.
"Um, Lord Wayne."
He glanced down at Robin, flushed and out of breath in his arms. She could not sustain her flower-wings for long, so Wayne carried her while running through the sky with Moon-Walk.
"You are holding me a bit tight," she whispered.
"Sorry, lost track of my strength."
Robin's chatter on the flight back was nothing like the cool scholar the world knew; only Wayne saw this side of her.
"You acted so well, I truly thought you were hurt," she said. "Did I look convincing as the assassin?"
"You were great," Wayne answered, smiling. "I will add a drumstick to your supper."
They touched down in Loguetown. Robin asked the question that had been nagging her. "What is your connection to Fire Fist Ace? Why go to such lengths?"
Wayne pictured Rouge's gentle smile in Ace's stubborn eyes. His lips curved softly.
"Besides you all, Ace is the only family I have in this world."