Summary:
The episode begins with a preview of the Arabasta desert. A man named Scorpion is shown sleeping atop a large rock lookout with a helmeted ostrich-looking bird called Popo. Food is scattered on the ground. Popo goes to Scorpion and wakes him up. When Scorpion asks what’s going on. Popo points to the rising smoke in the distance. Scorpion grabs the binoculars and points them where the smoke is rising. He sees the Straw Hats and Ace. Once Scorpion realizes who it is, sweat covers his face and he gets excited. He was waiting for the day he finally tracked down Portgas D. Ace.
The Straw Hats and Ace eat, Luffy and Usopp ask for seconds. Sanji kicks them and tells them to stop being greedy. Hearing this, Luffy stole something from Zoro’s plate. Everyone starts fighting.
Vivi starts talking to Nami, asking why every meal turns into a fight. Nami responds by telling her to ignore it. They both admire Portgas D. Ace for eating quietly and cleaning his fork and plate. “He’s definitely different,” Nami remarks, comparing Ace to Luffy. Nami starts talking about how much Ace is worth and that his bounty will make bounty hunters drool.
He switches back to Scorpion, charges the rocket launcher and starts targeting Ace. He says, “I’ll take care of everything with this one shot.” He lights the fuse on his rocket. Popo sneezes on the fuse and blows it off without Scorpion noticing.
Nami starts preparing to go to Yuba. He tells the rest of the Straw Hats to start preparing by cleaning up. Two shadows appear behind some rocks without anyone noticing. Then suddenly a piece of meat starts to rise without anyone touching it. This gets Luffy’s attention. He is then shown to be rising due to a fishing rod pulling him up. Luffy is still oblivious, thinking the meat is swimming and talking. Once the two shadows pull the meat in, they start running. Luffy chases after him.
This is then revealed as two boys trying to get food because they are starving. They haven’t eaten in ten days. As they start eating it, Ace asks if they came from the Badland. For a second they are shocked that they have been caught. Then they get aggressive and scare Ace, asking who you are and saying they won’t return the food. The oldest brother pulls out a revolver and says, “One move and you’re dead.” Ace doesn’t look scared. Instead, he smiles and calmly states, “Such dangerous things don’t scare me.” The brother fires his gun and Ace easily deflects it.
The Straw Hats come up to Ace and ask who they are. The oldest brother drops his revolver and says, “We have something to ask of you. We need you to find and capture the man.” The two boys pull out a picture of Scorpion.
Returning to the Scorpion, he’s still waiting for the fuse to blow, even though he’s no longer on fire. He asks if Popo is ready, but then realizes that Popo ate the fuse. Scorpion yells at Pop, which catches Luffy’s attention, who is directly below where they are. Luffy jumps up and starts talking to them. In the commotion, Scorpion loses track of Ace.
The two boys tell Ace that they’ve been looking for him all over the Badlands. Usopp asks who is the one they are looking for. Nami tells Usopp that he is a bounty hunter named Scorpion. Ace tells them that he has business with Scorpion because the person who defeated Blackbeard in Yuba was named Scorpion.
Luffy discovers that the person he is talking to is the bounty hunter Scorpion. He tells Luffy that he is going to find and kill Fire Fist Ace. Luffy tells him it’s funny and Scorpion playfully tells him “Don’t make fun of me”.
The two boys realize who Ace is. They ask Ace if he’s the real Ace, but he’s too busy looking for something in the desert. Usopp asks if something is wrong. He replies, “Two men and a bird.”
Scorpion arrives with Luffy and says “I am Scorpion and I will beat you.” He is very nervous and you can see that he is faking everything. They unleashed a “real” battle between him and Ace.
Scorpion fires a net at Ace, but Ace knocks it back at Scorpion. Ace then quickly punches him and defeats him. Ace tells Scorpion that he couldn’t beat Blackbeard because he’s too weak.
The oldest boy shouts, “That’s enough, Dad!” Everyone is surprised that Scorpion is their father. It turns out that they were originally farmers. Once there was a drought on their farm. The father told his children that he would become a bounty hunter, take down Ace and come back rich.
His children now tell him that he is no match for Fire Fist Ace. He chuckles and nervously says, “What are you saying? Your dad is the greatest bounty hunter in the world right now.” Scorpion speaks to his children and returns to the fight. His children don’t beg him either. Just as he is about to launch the rocket, his children tell him to stop. He drops the rocket, it flies off and hits a rock. The rock explodes sending smaller rocks towards them. Ace then saves all three from certain death. He then returns home to the Badlands. At the end of it all, Ace leaves. Before leaving, he gives Luffy a piece of paper and tells Luffy that the next time they see each other, it will be at the top of the Pirates Summit.