Bruce Banner's pupils shrank violently.
He only had time to let out a short, sharp scream.
The next moment, Ace hoisted him up like a chicken.
"Woohoo—!!"
Ace let out an excited whoop.
He turned into an orange-gold fiery meteor, smashing straight through the clinic roof.
And shot sky-high!
The wind howled.
The world streaked backward.
Bruce Banner felt his cheeks flapping in the gale.
The roller-coaster weightlessness was a heart patient's nightmare.
Beep-beep-beep-beep!
A shrill alarm burst in mid-air.
The digits on his wrist spiked wildly.
Heart rate: 110... 125... 138!
Stop—stop right now!
Bruce Banner clung to Ace's arm, his face paper-white.
I'm gonna puke! I'm having an attack!
Put me down! I'm terrified of heights, you bastard!
Ace twisted nimbly mid-air, dodging a towering tree.
The wind's roar drowned out Banner's shouts.
He shouted back:
"Relax, Doctor! I'm super steady!"
"Almost there!"
"Hold tight!"
Boom!
Another jet of flame.
The speed actually doubled!
Damn—damn!
Bruce Banner stared in despair at his watch.
Heart rate: 145... 148...!
A ghost-green glimmer re-appeared in his eyes.
Veins bulged at his neck; his crisp white shirt began to rip.
A brutal, ruinous aura raged awake inside him.
Arnie—help!
With his last shred of sanity, Banner screamed.
On the ground.
The T-800 was thundering forward.
Every footstep shattered rock.
Though running at top speed, it was still miles behind the flying Ace.
"Warning: target heart rate approaching critical."
"Warning: Gamma energy spiking."
"Whoa-hoo—!!"
Ace, now a human jet, blasted twin fire columns from his soles.
He zig-zagged through the clouds, lost in the thrill of flight.
As for the "poor Doctor" dangling beneath him...
Sorry.
Between the howling wind and his own impatience, the young Spade Pirates' Captain had gone selectively deaf.
"Put... put me down..."
Bruce Banner, hanging upside-down by his ankle, flopped like a torn sack.
His glasses had long since vanished into the sky.
His face cycled from deathly pale to purple, then to an eerie greenish hue.
Beep-beep-beep!
Beep-beep-beep-beep!!
The heart-rate monitor on his wrist sounded more ominous than a death knell.
Heart rate: 165... 172... 180!
Can you hear me, you brat?!
Banner felt his blood igniting.
Gamma rays were running wild.
The Beast caged deep in his soul battered against the bars of reason.
"Grr..."
A low, hoarse growl, straight from some abyss, slipped his throat.
But the feeble sound was instantly buried beneath Ace's booming voice.
"I see it, Doc!"
Ace pointed at a three-masted ship below and yelled in delight.
"That's our ship!"
"Deuce is on deck!"
"Hang on, everyone—the Doctor's here!!"
With that.
He didn't slow in the least.
He shifted, head down, feet up.
Like a burning meteor, he streaked straight for the hapless vessel—Bruce Banner in tow.
No... don't...
Banner closed his eyes in despair.
In that instant.
He almost heard the snap of his last thread of sanity...
Spade Pirates' main ship.
The deck was cloaked in gloom.
A dozen crewmen ringed a blue-haired youth lying in their midst.
Their First Mate, Deuce.
Deuce's face was black, his lips cracked, his breath barely a whisper.
Some unknown tropical toxin was devouring his life.
"Damn it, why isn't the Captain back?!"
"Is there even a Doctor on Calebari Island?"
"Any later and Big Bro Deuce will..."
Skull clenched his fists, his eyes bloodshot.
Right then.
A familiar ripping roar tore through the sky.
The thunder of burning air!
Everyone jerked their heads up.
An orange-gold meteor was plummeting toward the deck at a terrifying speed.
"It's Captain Ace!"
"The Boss is back!"
"Clear the way!!"
The crew scattered with shouts.
BOOM—!!!
A deafening crash.
The whole ship lurched; waves leapt meters high.
A smoking crater now gaped mid-deck.
Splinters flew.
"Cough-cough..."
From the smoke rang Ace's energetic voice.
"Sorry, sorry! Landing was a bit rushed!"
Ace slapped dust from his clothes and hopped from the hole.
Grinning, he gave everyone a big thumbs-up.
"No worries!"
"I brought the best Doctor on the island!"
"Even Shinigami won't snatch my crewmate from me!"
Tears of relief burst from the pirates.
"Awesome!"
"That's our Ace!"
"Where's the Doc? Check Deuce quick!"
Every hopeful gaze turned to the still-smoking pit.
At the bottom.
A ragged figure staggered upright.
Bruce Banner.
Or rather, Bruce Banner mid-horrifying transformation.
His white coat hung in tatters.
His once-slight frame ballooned before their eyes.
Muscles inflated, shredding the last threads of his shirt.
Medicine...
Sedative...
Trembling, Banner pulled the tiny vial from his pocket.
Consciousness was slipping.
His vision swam in red doubles.
Just take it... take it and push it back...
Yet.
The instant his fingers touched the cap.
Crack.
A brittle snap.
With his new strength, the fragile vial crushed to powder.
White pills mixed with glass dusted the dirt.
...
Staring at the scattered tablets.
Banner's last flicker of reason died.
In its place.
Unending rage.
The humiliation of being flown like a kite.
An urge to smash everything!
"Grr... ughaaa!!"
A savage, pain-filled roar echoed from the pit.
Unfortunately.
Ace, standing at the rim, noticed nothing.
His nerves were as thick as Luffy's.
He grabbed Banner's now-thickened arm and yanked.
"Quit stalling, Doc!"
"Lives first!"
"Up you go!"
Whoosh!
Ace's brute strength flung Banner from the crater.
But balance was gone.
His body was changing too fast; he toppled like a hill of flesh.
Two staggering steps cast a giant shadow over the dying Deuce.
At that moment.
The barely conscious Deuce forced his heavy eyelids open.
"A... Ace..."
His voice was mosquito-weak.
Through the haze.
He saw that familiar orange-hatted figure.
His Captain—the reckless idiot who always felt utterly dependable.
"Deuce! You're awake!"
Ace knelt joyfully and clasped his hand.
"Hold on! You're saved!"
"I fetched the greatest Doctor on the island!"
"He's a bit odd, but he'll cure you for sure!"