Chapter 1:
"We'd like to sign up nine people please!" Nami smiled at the receptionist behind the desk. The person was not looking happy and he looked to be scrunched up in the small room behind the bars. He had no hair and his black tank top showed off his massive muscles.
"Read the sign lady," he growled rudely at her.
"I'll teach you some manners," Sanji growled back after hearing how the man talked to Nami. She quieted her chef with a raised arm and he swooned before looking at her with hearts in his eyes.
They had just landed on the island, but the only thing there was a huge dome in the center of it. The building covered almost the entire island and the dock led straight up to the entrance.
She started reading it out loud, "There will be a maximum of 128 participants. Doctors will not be provided. Fighting outside the ring will cause immediate disqualification of your entire team. Each crew or organization can only enter, six people," she trailed off and turned to the other eight behind her.
"You heard him, what do we do?" She asked and the others looked to their captain who was thinking hard.
"I know! Let's pretend like we came in separately!" The man with the Straw Hat said as if it was a great plan.
Nami put a hand on her face and before she could tell him, the man behind the desk yelled, "We have wanted posters of all of you. You're the Straw Hats. Even if you came on different ships, like the Blackbeard Pirates, you still would only be allowed to enter six entrants."
"Blackbeard's here?!" Usopp shouted and then turned, "I'm out! You're not putting me in the ring with Blackbeard."
"Yohohoho, me neither," Brook crossed his arms and Chopper looked at each of them.
"Uhh," a few of them were expecting him to join those two, but he just smiled and said, "I'll do it! I want to show how much stronger I've become over the last two years."
"I'm in," Zoro stated with a smirk as he grabbed his swords. Nami looked around as Franky, Robin, Luffy, and Sanji all agreed that they'd do it.
She breathed a sigh of relief that she wouldn't have to enter and she looked back at the man. "Straw Hat Luffy. Pirate Hunter Zoro. Devil Child Nico Robin. Black Leg Sanji. Cyborg Franky. And," the man looked at the bounty paper and then back up before holding in his laughter and then stating, "Cotton Candy Lover Chopper... the pet."
"I'm strong too!" Chopper transformed into his heavy point from the cute form he was in. The man behind the counter didn't seem impressed but he did stop laughing so Chopper changed back.
"All right then. Also it's eight million beri per entrant. That's forty eight million if you enter six." Nami looked upset but thought about the payoff if they won and her doubts went away. She nodded and the man wrote their names down. "You may all go in. You were the 100-105 entrants. Cutting it close to the cut off," the man chuckled as they walked past him to the double iron doors.
"I wonder who else is here." Robin stated out loud. Usopp was still staring back at the sign that said there weren't any event-sponsored doctors. "A billion beri is a large number."
The sniper gulped and then put on a brave face. "I bet Blackbeard is going to be the only competition." He walked in front of the others and put his arms on the double doors, pushing hard. His muscles bulged and veins popped as he pushed harder but he finally got them to move. The huge doors were twice his size but he managed to open them.
Impressed with himself, Usopp walked inside with a smug look on his face, ready to take on any opponent. He got one step inside and opened his eyes before freezing in place. The huge person standing in front of him had completely white skin and a neck stitched up from inside his shirt.
"M-M-Moria!" Usopp shouted as the other crew members ran inside.
"Straw Hat!" The former Shichibukai shouted as Luffy ran in the room. He had an angry look on his face and was pulling back his arm when Nami hit him on the back of the head and he fell down.
"Baka!" she shouted at him. "We'll get kicked out if we start fighting outside of our matches!" This piece of information reminded the other crew members to not be as tense as they looked around.
Moria grunted and walked away with Doctor Hogback and Absalom behind him.
Franky stared around at people all over the room and recognized a lot of them. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he started running away from the crew.
They were in the main room of the dome. The ground beneath them was split up into four sections with a large center filled with water. The outside had one section made of stone, one of grass and dirt, one of sand, and one of ice.
"It's like they're trying to simulate every possible environment." Nami said while looking around. They were currently on the stone portion and as she looked around, there were large walls that went up around the battlefield. There were seats for all the participants and other crew members who came just to watch.
"Where's Franky going?" Luffy asked and then followed where the robot had run off to.
"No way," Sanji said and a smile spread on his face.
Across the stone section from them were the Franky Family members. The crew started running over and they had a happy reunion with them.
Zanbai, the new leader of the Franky Family, interrupted their greetings, "We're not the only ones from Water 7 who came."
"You got that right," a familiar voice agreed and Zoro turned around to see Paulie standing behind him along with a large number of Galley-La workers.
Tileston flexed his arms and Lulu pressed his beard hair down only for it to appear on top of his head. The man with the weird hair and sunglasses spoke, "A billion beri would go a long way towards opening up another gate and fixing up the city after last year's Aqua Laguna."
"Another bad one huh?" Franky asked.
"Not as bad as when you guys were there, but yeah." Zanbai nodded his head and then grinned, "But I'm so glad you're here Aniki. I kept telling the others that you would come."
"He did," two female voices said at the same time and they turned to see Mozu and Kiwi posing behind them.
"Yow!" Franky jumped in front and posed as well. "My little sisters, I've missed you so much!"
They stared at him for a few seconds and at his body. Finally Mozu asked, "Did you do something with your hair?" The blue hair was in the shape of a cannon.
"Notice the other changes first!" Franky shouted and the others finally noticed the drastic changes in their leader. He looked like a much shinier robot and they started talking and catching up with him.
"L-Luffy, look," Nami tugged on her captain's sleeve. The boy in the Straw Hat was laughing at the Franky Brothers' antics when he turned to see where Nami was pointing.
Up in the stands already, there was a group of seven people sitting down and all of them were glaring down at the Straw Hats. The seats were individual chairs with padding and looked much more comfy than normal stadium bleachers. In the center of the seven chairs, with three members on either side of him, was a man in a top hat with a bird on his shoulder.
"Lucci," Luffy whispered.
"Wait a second," Nami said as she looked at the other CP9 members. She turned around and saw a large muscular man wearing a purple uniform similar to the receptionist's earlier. "I thought this tournament excluded anyone working for the government." The man just nodded at her, "That's Cipher Pol 9 up there," she tilted her head behind her, not wanting to point and get their attention.
"Yes, we were," the woman froze where she stood and felt chills go down her spine. She turned slowly and saw a beautiful woman with long blonde hair behind her. Kalifa flipped her hair behind her head and kept talking even as Sanji came up next to her and started professing how he knew they would see each other again. "However, Spandam placed the blame for Enies Lobby on us, and we were shunned by the Government. Because of you, we're now hunted by the organization we believe in."
"I don't understand," Nami said as she took a step away from the woman. "What does getting fired have to do with them hunting you?"
"If you have a dangerous weapon that you created, but don't want it anymore, do you release it in the world for others to use against you?" The question explained her situation completely and Nami almost felt bad for her old enemy. "No, you destroy that weapon. So they tried to kill us. We escaped easily, and now we all have bounties."
Luffy was still staring up in the stands at Rob Lucci. The man was looking right back at him until Luffy finally turned away, feeling another presence that he recognized.
"Mugiwara," the boy finished turning and saw a man with a large coat that hung behind him.
A few of the Straw Hats gasped as they saw the man behind them. Zoro looked at the man at his side and smirked as the other gave him a dirty look. "Crocodile," Robin uttered, feeling suddenly afraid. Mr. 1 glared at the opponent who crushed him in Alubarna as the two crews faced off.
"Nico Robin," he chuckled with a cigar in between his teeth, "I heard you joined up with this brat after Alabasta."
"You mean after you tried to kill me?" She asked in a bitter tone. Zoro was still smirking at Daz Bones who was next to the man.
Before anything else could be said, an angry female voice called from the left and they all turned, "Crocodile!" The Warlord's eyes went wide as did the majority of the Straw Hats.
The woman with blue hair was being held back by a large man behind her. He was urging her to wait until the tournament when suddenly she stopped struggling in his arms.
The woman stared ahead at the Straw Hats who looked back at her with similar reactions as their jaws lowered slower and slower. "VIVI!" Five of the crew members ran over as fast as they could as the woman ran in their direction.
Igaram let go of the Princess so she could run forward and meet her friends halfway. "Everyone!" she had tears in her eyes as Luffy's arms extended and wrapped around her, pulling her towards them faster and they all started hugging.
Nami, Sanji, Usopp, and Chopper were all part of the group hug and Zoro was right behind them, a smile on his face as he looked at their old crew member.
The hug finally broke apart as they all had happy tears and started yelling how happy they were to see her. "Mr. Bushido," she smiled at Zoro who had yet to say hello and he grinned at her. "I'm so happy to see you all," she smiled at them and Nami tilted her head to one side, realizing something.
"Wait, why are you in the New World?" She questioned the desert kingdom's princess. "How did you get here?!"
"Actually," Vivi scratched the back of her head. "I requested a pass and Mariejois gave me one. The Nefertaris are one of the original families of the World Government after all. Comes with its perks." The others laughed and Usopp frowned thinking about how hard it had been for them to get there.
"As to why I'm here," she looked back over at Crocodile and Mr.1 with a scowl. "We're still recovering from the civil war. Alabasta was in pretty bad shape altogether, especially the capital." The others nodded, remembering the bad state of Alubarna when they left it. "A billion beri would help a lot with rebuilding."
"Makes sense," Zoro stated and then saw someone walking towards them from behind Vivi. "Huh?"
"Hello," the man greeted and the others all went wide-eyed in shock.
"It's a ghost!" Usopp shouted.
Pell sweat-dropped and looked at the freaking out pirates. They were all staring at him and he put up his hands with a smile, "I'm not dead, really."
"B-but," Chopper started, "the last time we saw you, you flew up in the sky... and exploded."
"It'll take a lot more than that to finish off Pell," a person who looked a lot like Igaram said as she stepped forward. She had on lipstick which was the main difference between her and her husband. Terracotta continued, "He's the strongest warrior in Alabasta."
The others smiled and thanked the man for what he did to save them back during the war, sacrificing himself and all. Vivi cut in since she knew her friend was feeling awkward and she said, "Why don't you introduce me to the rest of your crew? I've been dying to meet them!"
"Sure," Luffy turned around and saw Brook and Robin standing behind Franky's body as the man talked to a few of his old family members. "Guys, come over and meet Vivi."
Brook, who had read the logbook, recognized the name and ran over to meet the princess. She saw a charging skeleton and shrieked, three men jumping in front of her.
One of them the others recognized from the parties they had after the war. He could transform and was a Zoan type as well, Chaka.
"Ahhh!" Brook held up his arms in surrender as they pointed weapons at him.
"No Vivi, he's one of my nakama," Luffy explained and the woman stopped freaking out as much. "His name's Brook, he's a musician."
"Pleasure to meet you," the skeleton bowed and then lifted up his head, "may I see your panties?" Nami smacked him upside the head and he fell to the ground as Vivi's bodyguards glared at him.
"Hahaha," Luffy laughed and Franky was the next one to walk up and Vivi and her men were just as startled at the scantily clad robot in front of them.
Franky introduced himself and then stepped aside as the last member of the Straw Hats walked over. Vivi's bodyguards tensed up but she stepped out in front of them and took a deep breath before smiling. "I'm happy to see you've joined with Luffy."
The woman with long black hair wasn't expecting this reaction at all and stared at Vivi in surprise. She felt guilty about a lot of the things she did during her twenty years on the run, but helping to tear apart Alabasta was one of the worst. "I'm sorry."
As Nico Robin bowed her head, Chaka and Pell seemed a little less distressed by her presence. Igaram stepped forward as well and said, "I know you spared my life when you blew up my ship outside of Whiskey Peak." Robin looked up at him and Vivi was still smiling at her, already knowing this secret, "even if it meant going against Crocodile at the time, you saved me, so thank you."
"Anyway, any friend of Luffy's is a friend of mine," Vivi extended a hand and Robin looked at it. She smiled back at the younger woman and they shook.
"Hey Vivi, where's your dad?" Usopp asked.
"Someone has to stay and run the country while we're gone," she laughed. The men felt uneasy that they left the King, but he told them that Vivi needed much more protection in the New World than he did in his castle filled with guards. "Besides, this is supposed to be excluding the World Government and Marines, so they barely even allowed us to enter. With my father they definitely wouldn't have."
Vivi looked more mature than when they'd last seen her. Her blue hair was now longer and waved at the bottom. She wore a long pink dress with blue outlines that matched her hair.
All the Straw Hats were now listening to Vivi as she talked about the two plus years they'd been apart. Usopp started ranting about Fishman Island at one point and then they started talking about Punk Hazard and Dressrosa.
Suddenly the huge iron doors started opening again and this time the Straw Hats were part of the majority who turned their heads to see who was entering.
"Speak of the devil," Sanji said in a low tone as a large group of people strutted into the room.
"Who are they?" Vivi asked, seeing the expressions on her friends' faces.
"The man we were just talking about," Nami responded and the younger woman felt angry just looking at him.
He had a long cape of pink feathers and had very hairy legs. "That's Donquixote Doflamingo?"
"Yep," Zoro stated, "and that's his whole family behind him." He looked at the biggest man as he walked in and that person looked back at the green haired swordsman. Pica glared intensely at the swordsman who was itching to go another round with the Devil Fruit eater.
The executives all glared at the Straw Hats from the moment they walked in. Everyone could feel the tension in the air, but it only got worse as a voice spoke from right above them.
"I knew I'd find you here," most of the crew recognized the voice instantly and looked up.
Chopper was one of the three who didn't know who it was. The looks of hate and fear in his friends' eyes were enough for him though and he whispered, "Who is that?"
Usopp was shivering next to him as he looked up in terror. The man's well-tones figure was glowing as he floated above them. Just the fact that he was flying without any effort made many people in the room stare at him in awe. He looked bored as he sat Indian style with an elbow on one knee, his chin resting on his hand. "G-g-g-g-god," Usopp whispered and Chopper freaked out.
"Enel!" Luffy growled, questioning whether or not to obey the rules or to just slam his fist straight into the man's face.
He vanished and only a few people were able to follow his insanely fast movements as he dropped to the ground in the middle of the Straw Hats. His head was right next to Nami's and he whispered into her left ear, "Fairy Vearth was too high. Even I could not reach it."
The other crew members were balling their fists as Nami trembled next to the man. "I've decided to look for a new goal, down here on the blue sea."
He turned into lightning and shot across the dome to a seat above the sand area. Enel put his arms over the tops of the seats next to him and extended his feet out to rest on the chair in front of him.
"Entrants 100-111 are now here. Registration closes tomorrow morning," the loudspeakers on the ceiling started speaking and they all tried to determine who it was talking. "More ore contestants will show up tonight, but for now, attendants will point you to your rooms."
The men lined up on the walls all stepped forward and started calling out names. "Luffy and Usopp," the sniper was surprised they knew his name, but he turned and saw a woman calling for them. "You will be in room 268," she told them as they stepped towards her.
"Guys," Luffy turned and spoke to his crew, "we're gonna split up for the night, but see you all here tomorrow!"
"Yeah!" they all responded as they were called to separate rooms.
"Up the stairs to your right for rooms 201-250. Go to the left for 251-299. Third and fourth floor are the same but in the three and four hundreds." One of the men in a purple uniform called out as people were given their separate rooms.
"Vivi and Terracotta..."
"Igaram and Absalom..."
"Wait a second," the large man called out to the person who called his name. "Why am I not paired with my wife?"
"It's against the rules," the woman with glasses responded. She looked down at her clipboard and shouted out another room before explaining to the man still in front of her, "No girls in boy's rooms, got it?" She glared at him over the top rim of her glasses.
"Y-yeah," he sighed and turned away, "I just hope this Absalom guy isn't too weird."
"Who you calling weird?" Igaram came face to muzzle with a man beast. He assumed he was looking at his new roommate and groaned loudly before heading up the stairs on the wall to the second floor.
The rooms wrapped around the colosseum and as contestants opened them up, they groaned at the boring decor. There was a light on the ceiling and two beds on either side of the room. There was a toilet and a shower head in the corner with a drain on the floor beneath it.
When Nami and Robin walked into their room, the girl with orange hair panicked and asked if she could leave and use the shower on their ship. She was told that if anyone tried to leave before the end of the tournament, their entire crew would be eliminated.
"Who knows, maybe the water will be warm," Robin tried cheering her up. When Nami twisted the knob, the water came out tinted black for a few seconds before clearing up and coming out a milky clear color.
"Oh no," the navigator realized what she'd gotten them into and ducked her head down as she turned the water off. "I hope this tournament goes by fast."
Chopper got in the small room with Franky. They had already eaten dinner on the ship which was good since it didn't seem like they were going to be fed for the rest of the night.
"I'm going to get a lot of rest to prepare for tomorrow. You should do the same Franky," Chopper suggested as he hopped on the bed. It was springy and uncomfortable, but at least they gave them a blanket.
"Good idea," the shipwright agreed and then decided to mess with the reindeer for a little. In a mechanical tone he started droning, "Sequence 44: Activated."
"Ehhh!" Chopper lifted his head and stared as Franky lifted his arms to his sides and bent at the knees.
He continued to curl himself up smaller and smaller as he spoke, "Sleep commencing in ten, nine, eight, seven," his knees got close to the ground and his eyelids began closing slowly over his eyes. Chopper was staring with stars in his eyes at the power-down sequence. "Three, two, one," Franky's eyes were about to close and then he jumped up and posed with his arms together, Just Kidding!"
"What!?" Chopper's eyes flew out of his head as Franky wasn't falling asleep at all. The man seemed more energetic than ever as a small hand emerged from his left and he picked his nose with it while laughing.
Zoro and Sanji were placed in a room together against their wills. The second the door closed behind them, people in the hallway could hear crashing sounds on the other side of the wall. Brook was placed with a man they all knew well and were glad they met up with.
Jimbei was happy to see them and mentioned to Luffy that he planned on taking him up on his offer, but only once the tournament was over. That way, he could fight in it without ruining the Straw Hats' chances. In fact, he gave them an advantage of having the only seven man team.
Apparently the registration had been going on for several days but it looked like tomorrow was going to be the start. Many people already knew what rooms they were in and didn't need to be told to dismiss themselves and go back to their rooms.
Usopp and Luffy were in their room joking and laughing until Usopp got really serious all of a sudden. "So Luffy, did you see Blackbeard in there earlier?"
He shook his head and responded, "But I think he's here, it was hard to feel individual Hakis since there are so many powerful people around."
"Hmm," Usopp mumbled the man at the desk definitely said he was here, and there was no reason to lie about that. Yeah, you're probably right."
"Oi Usopp," Luffy said as they laid down on their separate beds.
"What?"
"Where do you think they keep the food around here?"
"Don't even think about sneaking out and getting a midnight snack!" Usopp scolded.
"Why not?" Luffy asked as he looked away with a frown.
"We could get disqualified! A snack isn't worth a billion beri!"
They sat there in silence for a little and Usopp closed his eyes. "Unless the food is really delicious," Luffy said.
"Yeah, unless it's really delicious," Usopp agreed as he drifted to sleep.
A/N Tomorrow starts the first day of the tournament. Who knows what other crews have arrived for this massive adventure. A billion beri would make any pirate weak in the knees, let's see who wants it the most! Hope you enjoyed, leave a review telling me what you think.