Duel on Banaro Island

The duel resumes on ruined Banaro Island. Teach stands wrapped in black smoke and confirms Ace's realization: "THAT'S RIGHT, COMMANDER ACE... 'DARK-NESS'." Ace watches in silence as Teach declares, "YOU CAN'T KILL ME..." and explains the power before him: "THEY SAY THIS ABILITY IS THE MOST POWERFUL OF ALL OF THE 'DEVIL'S FRUITS'..." The smoke coils from Teach's body like something alive, making the destroyed town feel even more hollow and dangerous.

Teach names the power properly: "LOGIA 'YAMI YAMI NO MI.'" He laughs that he has become something different from other men: "I'VE BECOME A 'MAN OF DARKNESS'!!" Ace answers with a dry "... WHATEVER," while Teach promises, "AND I'LL SHOW YOU ITS POWERS VERY SOON..." The Blackbeard Pirates and townspeople panic as the darkness keeps pouring out. They shout, "SHIT... THOSE PIRATES ARE STILL IN THE TOWN...!!" "THEY'RE GONNA DO SOMETHING!!" "HE KEEPS EMITTING THAT BLACK SMOKE!!" and "DON'T GET ANY CLOSER!! JUST RUN!!" Burgess warns everyone, "QUICK!! EVACUATE!! THE CAPTAIN'S GONNA GO WILD!!"

Teach spreads the darkness over the town. He grins with "GUGU... NFU FI..." and then laughs, "ZEAAAH!!!" as a black mass blooms through the street like a pit opening in the earth. Ace watches from a distance, silent and wary. The darkness does not merely cover the ground; it runs between buildings and pulls at the town itself, making the street crack and bend toward the black center.

The people flee through the forest and toward the coast, warning one another, "UWAHH!! SOMETHING'S SPREADING ON THE GROUND!!" "THAT'S THE STUFF THAT GUY WAS EMITTING FROM HIS BODY...!!" "THAT'S SCARY!! IT'S SO BLACK, IT'S JUST LIKE A HOLE IN THE GROUND." "I FEEL LIKE I'M BEING SUCKED IN. CREEPY." "DON'T TOUCH IT!! JUST RUN!!" "GO THROUGH THE FOREST AND RUN TO THE COAST!!" Teach explains the nature of his darkness: "MY 'DARKNESS' IS 'GRAVITATION'!!" and "IT'S A FORCE THAT SUCKS EVERYTHING IN!!! NOT EVEN LIGHT CAN ESCAPE." He says he will not attack Ace yet: "IT'S INFINITE 'GRAVITATION.' IT'S NOT... COMING TOWARDS ME. I WON'T ATTACK YOU JUST YET...!! JUST STAY THERE AND SEE WHAT HAPPENS TO THE TOWN...!!"

Teach calls the technique "BLACK HOLE"!!! The gravity of "darkness" draws in every object with infinite force and crushes it. Whole buildings tip, splinter, and sink into the blackness while onlookers shout, "WHY!? WHAT'S GOING ON!?" and "BEING SUCKED INTO THE GROUND!" Others stare at the spreading destruction and ask, "... ARE WE DREAMING...?" The town disappears into the dark, leaving Teach to announce, "NOW, I'LL SHOW YOU THE MISSING TOWN... IN ITS RUINED FORM...!!"

Teach releases everything the darkness swallowed with "LIBERATION"!!! A mountain of shattered houses, beams, roofs, and debris erupts back into the air and crashes down over Banaro Island. People below scream, "THE TOWN HAS BEEN COMPLETELY DESTROYED..." Teach laughs at Ace, "ZEHAHA-HAHA! SEE THAT, ACE!!? THIS IS THE ABILITY I'VE OBTAINED!!!" The ruined town becomes proof that his darkness can swallow matter and then vomit it back out in devastation.

Ace answers with fire rather than fear. He scatters glowing embers with "HOTARU-BI," meaning firefly light, and then detonates them around Teach with "HI-DARUMA"!!! Flames burst over Teach's body and he screams, "GWAA AAH!!!" and "HOT!!! HOT, HOT, HOT!!!" Ace analyzes the weakness: "... I UNDERSTAND THE STRENGTH OF THIS 'DARKNESS'... BUT IT'S STRANGE... IF YOU HAVE A LOGIA TYPE, IT SHOULD'VE BEEN EASY FOR YOU TO DODGE THIS KIND OF ATTACK."

Teach, still smoking from the flames, explains the cost of his power. "I TOLD YOU...!! THIS DARKNESS SUCKS EVERYTHING IN. ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING. BULLETS, BLADES, PUNCHES, FIRE, EVEN THUNDER...!!!" He admits, "UNLIKE OTHER LOGIA TYPES, I CANNOT FEND OFF AN ATTACK. AND MY BODY SUCKS IN 'PAIN' MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE." But he reveals a second terror: "THAT FLAW ASIDE, THERE IS ONE MORE THING I CAN DO!!!" He reaches out with "KURO UZU"!!! and says, "MY DARK GRAVITATION CAN PRECISELY DRAW IN THE DF USER'S 'BODY.'" Ace feels himself dragged forward with "GRAVITATION!!?" as the darkness pulls him straight toward Teach's hand.

Teach catches Ace by the body and asks, "WHAT DO YOU THINK? ... YOU'VE PROBABLY NOTICED IT BY NOW, ACE." Ace tries to answer with flame, but nothing comes: "CAN'T BE...!!" Teach punches him hard at point-blank range, sending Ace crashing away. The shock is not only the hit, but the truth behind it: while Teach is touching him, Ace cannot turn into fire.

Ace coughs blood and Teach laughs, "ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" He taunts, "IT MUST'VE BEEN A WHILE SINCE YOU WERE LAST PUNCHED...! YOU PROBABLY REALIZED IT AS SOON AS I GRABBED YOU!!!" Ace understands the hidden rule: "MEANING, WHILE I'M TOUCHING HIS BODY, THE DF USER CAN NO LONGER USE HIS ABILITIES!!" Teach confirms the horror of the darkness: "... THE OTHER THING THAT MY 'DARKNESS' CAN SUCK IN IS THE 'DEVIL'S POWER'!!!"

Teach boasts that he has gained the perfect counter to every overconfident Devil Fruit user: "LOGIA...!! ZOAN... PARAMISIA!!! AGAINST ALL THE DF USERS WHO OVERRATE THEIR OWN ABILITY, I'VE GAINED AN OFFENSIVE ABILITY THAT CAN NEVER BE DEFENDED AGAINST!!!" He uses "KUROUZU" again, promising, "I'LL JUST PROVE TO YOU THAT YOU CAN'T GET AWAY FROM THE GRAVITATION OF THE DARKNESS!!!" Ace answers from range instead: "... ONLY IF I GET CAUGHT." He throws two burning lances with "SHINKA SHIRANUI"!!! The fire arcs toward Teach as the pull of darkness twists the air between them.

The fire lances stab into Teach, and he cries out, "GUH...!!!!" One of his men panics, "A FLAME SPEAR!?" while another screams, "SHIT!! GWAAAAAH!! HOT!!" Teach is badly wounded but still frightening, and an onlooker notes, "... HE'S GAINED A VERY TROUBLESOME ABILITY." Ace keeps his breathing steady and presses the advantage, while Teach endures the heat and pain that his own darkness amplifies.

Ace crosses his flaming spears and attacks with "JUJIKA"!!!! The crossed fire slams into Teach while the note explains that Jujika means "holy cross" and the kanji reads cross fire. The blast shakes the island. Van Augur watches the battlefield and says, "I THOUGHT DF USERS WOULD BE TOO CONCENTRATED ON THE DF ABILITY AND WERE WEAK AND PATHETIC ONCE IT'S TAKEN AWAY. BUT NO... NO WONDER HE'S A COMMANDER ON 'WHITEBEARD'S' SHIP. HIS BASIC FIGHTING POWER IS AMAZING...!!!" He frames the day as fate: "... NOW, TODAY IS YET ANOTHER... OF FATE'S CROSSROADS..."

The battle's destruction spreads beyond the town. A rock formation collapses as someone cries, "BA-BANANA ROCK... IS FALLING...!!" and another asks, "... WHAT'S GOING ON...!? NO HUMAN COULD DO THIS." The survivors wonder, "WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO THIS ISLAND...?" Van Augur adds, "... NOT JUST THE TOWN..." Ace and Teach are both exhausted and breathing hard, but Teach insists, "NOTHING STANDS A CHANCE IN FRONT OF THE 'DARKNESS'!! LOOK... EVEN YOUR STRENGTH!" He still tries to recruit Ace, saying, "... BUT REALLY, IT'S A PITY TO LOSE YOUR POWER...!! ACE...!! C'MON AND BE MY NAKAMA!!!"

Ace refuses to surrender his will. Bloodied but smiling, he tells Teach, "IF I GIVE INTO THE 'FORCE,' THERE'LL BE NO POINT TO MY LIFE. I WILL NEVER LEAVE ANY REGRETS IN MY LIFE...!!! ... GOT THAT, IDIOT!?" Teach answers with his own law: "... SURVIVAL IS ALL THAT MATTERS IN THIS WORLD..." and calls him, "WHAT A SHAME, ACE..." Ace forms a blazing sun of fire with "DAI ENKAI"!! and names the final flame, "ENTEI"!!! Teach counters from the other side with a mass of black darkness, shouting, "DIE IN THE DARK-NESS!!!" The two powers swell toward each other, fire emperor against darkness.

The duel reaches its final collision. Teach roars, "ZEHAHAHA!! FLAMING LIGHT OR DARKNESS!! ONLY ONE WILL WIN!!!" Ace declares his purpose with quiet certainty: "I WILL MAKE WHITEBEARD THE KING." Fire and darkness collide over Banaro Island, leaving a black-and-white pillar visible from the sea. The narration closes the chapter's true importance: "'Grand Line' Duel at Banaro Island -- The battle between those two pirates was later described as the 'trigger' of a very big incident in the coming future."

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