The Blind Bandit

Chapter 6

"How has no one in this whole damn town seen one little girl!" Ace fumed, clearly frustrated.

"Any leads?" Thatch asked, appearing behind Ace.

"No," Ace sighed, "you think Marco is having better luck than us?"

"Let's hope so," Thatch said, spotting a familiar blue phoenix approaching them.

Transforming back into his human form, Marco landed in front of Thatch and Ace.

"Find anything, pineapple head?" Thatch questioned before dodging a strike from said pineapple head.

"Don't call me that-yoi!" Marco exclaimed, "and to answer your question, yes I did locate a girl that matched your descriptions of what The Blind Bandit looked like-yoi."

"Really! Where did you see her?" Thatch asked, his voice slightly louder than usual.

"But I'm not quite sure I found the right person-yoi," Marco continued.

"Why? Where did you find her?" Ace asked, raising a brow at Marco.

"In the Beifong residence," Marco said.

"Where?" Ace said, confused.

"The Beifong family residence," Marco restated before adding, "they're a powerful and very influential Earth Kingdom noble family seated in Zaofu and Republic City, renowned for their wealth and good connections with other noble families."

"The family, whose symbol is a flying boar, continues to be well respected and hold significant credibility in the Earth Kingdom," Marco finished, watching as Ace and Thatch stood there with open mouths and wide eyes.

"What?!" Ace gasped incredulously, "Are you sure you saw the right girl?"

"That's why I said I wasn't quite sure-yoi!" Marco yelled back at Ace.

"Well I guess there's no harm in checking," Thatch shrugged, "it's not like we got any other better leads."

"Still can't believe she could possibly be a noble," Ace mumbled before catching up with Thatch and Marco, who had already started walking off.

Outside the Beifong family residence

There standing outside the Beifong residence, the three Whitebeard pirates could be seen spying outside the walled country estate that had a lovely garden, many ponds and a crest with a flying boar emblazoned upon the gates. Two of them gaping at the sight, while the other had a bored expression and sighed.

"Guess we have to break in-yoi," Marco said before half transforming into a phoenix.

Flying across the wall, Ace and Thatch followed after Marco by climbing and jumping over the wall. Landing, the three of them entered the courtyard. 

Suddenly, part of the ground lifted up, launching Thatch and Ace into the air, while Marco dodged the unanticipated attack.

As they land unceremoniously, Ace lands in some rose bushes while Thatch slams painfully onto the solid ground. Looking up, Ace could see the Bandit, who was now in a fancy gown, scowling at three of them.

"What are you doing here, Twinkle Toes?!" growled The Bandit, irritation clear in her tone.

"How did you know it was me?" Ace asked.

Ignoring the question, The Bandit asked a question back, "How did you find me?"

"Well, we asked around and nobody seemed to know where you were," Ace replied, "then this pineapple head flew around and after a while came back and said tha-."

"What Ace is trying to say is that Pops would like to meet you-yoi," Marco said, cutting Ace's rambling off, "so I'm guessing you must be The Blind Bandit by how Ace seems to recognise you."

"Not my problem," The Bandit said, beginning to walk away, "Now get out of here, or I'll call the guards."

"Look, we just need a moment of your time so that Pops can meet you," Ace said, getting up and slowly walking towards The Bandit.

"Guards! Guards, help!" The Bandit cried out.

"Run!" Thatch yelled, before the three of them scattered and jumped back over to the other side of the wall, two guards arriving in front of The Bandit.

"Toph, what happened?" One of the guards questioned.

"I...thought I heard someone. I got scared," Toph said, faking a worried expression.

"You know your father doesn't want you wandering the grounds without supervision, Toph," the other guard said, escorting her back while Ace, Marco and Thatch peered at them from over a rooftop.

"Now what?" Thatch asked, turning toward Ace and Marco for a plan.

"I have an idea," Ace said, climbing down as his lips curved into a smirk.