The Blind Bandit

Chapter 5

As Xin Fu held the belt and the bag of gold and passed them to Ace, the crowd cheered behind them. Thatch and Haruta entered the ring, Thatch put his arm around Ace's shoulder while Haruta congratulated Ace for winning.

"Way to go, champ!" Thatch said, watching the bag of gold and belt being passed to Ace.

"You sure you didn't go overboard though?" Haruta said, raising an eyebrow.

Taking the money and the belt, Ace looked around for the Blind Bandit to check if she was okay.

Spotting her, he sees her earthbend a doorway and exit through it, then turning and closing the door with a motion of her hands.

"Hmmmm...I'm pretty sure she'll be fine," Ace said, still a bit uncertain though.

Later on the Moby Dick

"You should've seen it Pops, she was beating guys more than twice her size," Thatch said excitedly as he retold what they watched at the Earth Rumble VI.

"Yeah, the Blind Bandit was really cool," Haruta hummed in agreement, while Ace could be seen sitting silently at the corner of the room.

"What do you think of The Bandit Ace?" Questioned Whitebeard as he turned to his other son.

"She was okay I guess," Ace said, looking down.

"Don't listen to Ace, he's still sulking about The Bandit making fun of him by calling him a little girl during ," Thatch said, hearing a few muffled snickers from other commanders in the room.

"You forgot 'the Fancy Dancer'," Haruta said, chuckling a bit.

"Oh yeah, there was that too!" Thatch said, bursting into laughter.

"She sure sounds like an interesting individual," Vista said while smiling and twirling his mustache.

"Shut up!" Ace exclaimed, bursting into flames before muttering, "I was just wondering if she's okay."

"Gurarararara, calm down my son," Whitebeard said, waiting for the flames to die down before continuing.

"I think I would like to meet this Blind Bandit," he said with a wide grin on his face, "Marco, go with Ace and Thatch tomorrow to look for the Blind Bandit."

Sighing, Marco looked up at Whitebeard and then to Thatch and Ace.

"Huuuuuuu, fine-yoi."

The next day in the streets of Gaoling

"So where do you guys think she might be," Thatch said, with his hands behind his head, looking around at all the people passing them.

"Who knows," Ace said, not really looking around for the little girl.

"If we want to find the Blind Bandit, the Earthbending Academy is a great place to start," Marco said with a bored expression.

At the Earthbending Academy

Entering the earthbending academy, the same two male students from the day prior could be seen practicing.

"Oh great, you again," the first male students spat out, causing Ace to glare at them, making them back off.

"Yeah, I didn't think so." Ace said with a bit of venom.

"Nicely done," Thatch said smugly.

"Hey! You're that kid who beat the Blind Bandit!" The other male student gasped.

"We need to talk to her. Do you guys know where she lives-yoi? Marco asked.

"The Blind Bandit's a mystery, she shows up to fight, then disappears," the male student answered, raising his fist dramatically.

Raising his eyebrow sceptically, Marco sees Ace lay his hands on Thatch's shoulders before telling him, "Let me handle this."

"You're not telling us everything!" Ace yelled accusingly after approaching the second student with a stern look.

"No, no, I-I swear it's true. No one knows where she goes, or who she really is," the second student stuttered, holding his hands up defensively.

"Great, now what," Ace said, turning towards Marco.

"We'll split up and look for her on our own-yoi," Marco replied.

*Sigh* "Fine," Ace grumbled, walking out of the academy.