Welcome, to another chapter that I finally managed to put up. I have to say I'm very proud of myself for this chapter, 23 pages in Microsoft word and 10,600 words, my longest ever.
So I hope you have as much fun reading the story and the fights as i did writing them. Also as always, please review, I'm looking for ways to improve my fight writting, whether it be more description, longer fights or whatever, please tell me.
Well without further delay, here it is
A New Pirate Crew Emerges - Chapter 14: The Arena Finals - Part 1
The crew spent many hours attempting to locate Damian. The people who ran the arena wouldn't talk to them about him and none of the contestants or spectators knew where he lived.
Eventually the crew was forced to call it a day and head towards a local inn since the next part of the tournament didn't start for another two days. They paid for two rooms and went up to get some sleep.
In one room all the men laid on the beds after putting away their stuff.
"I can't believe he's actually working for the arena." Akira said as the crew reflected on Damian.
"We should have expected as much, he probably just saw how strong we looked and was trying to get better business for the arena." Tairaa said as he got into his bed.
"Whatever, if it gives me an excuse to punch his face in, I'm all for it." Razar said with a slight chuckle.
"Ya right, like we would pick you to be the one to fight him if we win this tournament. It would obviously be me who would fight him." Jiiku said as he got into his bed.
"Guys, can you just stop arguing for a second. We can figure out who will fight Damian if we actually make it that far." Tairaa said as he tried to get some sleep.
Meanwhile, in the girls' room, the girls could hear the loud talking from the men's' room.
"I'm guessing they are arguing over who gets to fight Damian." Cora said as she leaned her sword up beside her bed.
Sakie was already almost asleep. "I really hope they shut up soon or I may have to go make them. I want my sleep."
"I think I can help with that." Yura said as she placed her hand against the wall and closed her eyes."
Suddenly, in the men's room, Jiiku was sent flying up into the air and slammed into the ground. The guys quickly got the message.
"Okay, sorry, we'll be quiet now." Kurisu responded, not wanting to be the next one to be thrown.
The crew quickly fell asleep and the rest of the night passed without incident. The next morning Tairaa was the first one awake, as usual, and found a small envelope inside his room that had been slid under the door. He opened it and read through it before waking everyone up and gathering them in the main lobby of the inn.
"Well guys, it appears that we have to go to the arena today to take part in some kind of 'strength test'. This letter was left at our door and that's pretty much all it says." Tairaa said as he passed the letter around.
"Well lets get going than, I want to see what kind of strength test it is." Jiiku said before walking away, making the rest of the crew follow.
The crew arrived at the arena to see all of the contestants waiting in front of the main gate. No spectators were seen so the crew assumed there wasn't going to be any fighting. After several minutes the announcer came out and escorted all of the fighters inside. Once everyone was inside, the announcer got his Den-Den Mushi Megaphone and began to yell into it.
"Attention contestants, as you all know from the letters you have received; we are having a strength test. Now this test in no way affects the tournament or who you will be fighting, it just gives a kind of bragging right to the 'winner' so to speak." The man paused before continuing. "Now we will be measuring your 'power level' or Douriki as it is called. Normally we need a special person with a special kind of ability to measure this, but luckily, we have received a generous donation from Dr. Vegapunk of the Marines."
The announcer motioned towards his assistants, who were bringing in a device that looked like a regular punching bag hooked up to some kind of computer.
"Now it's very simple, all you have to do is come up here and hit this bag with everything you've got. There is no way to break this bag unless you are stronger than a vice-admiral and for those of you with Devil's Fruit powers, do not use them, we wish to see how strong you are without help." The announcer continued.
"Sorry guys." Tairaa said as he pet Roje and Jeimuzu.
One by one people from different groups stepped up and punched or kicked the bag as hard as they could. Finally the Wild Cat Crew got a turn, and Cora was slightly upset because she couldn't use a sword. As the rest of the people had, they punched the bag and went back to their spot.
"Now, I will only announce the top 5 people in this group, but each team will get a sheet with all of their members as well as the Douriki ratings of each member. And remember, when measuring Douriki, the common Marine soldier is about 10 Douriki and anything over 500 is easily considered superhuman." The announcer waited for everyone to calm down before proceeding.
"Now coming in at number 5 is Razar of the Wild Cat Pirates with a Douriki of 1050." Razar was slightly depressed he wasn't higher. "At number 4 is Big Jack, of The Gold River Mercenary Group with a Douriki of 1195." The fighters looked as one of the fighters in the incredibly strong mercenary group raised his hand in triumph.
"He's mine." Razar whispered under his breath before the announcer continued.
"At number 3 we have, Tairaa of the Wild Cat Pirates with a Douriki of, get this, 2000! Amazing!" The crew all gave Tairaa a quick pat on the back. "But wait, we still have number 2. And number 2 is, Jiiku, also of the Wild Cat Pirates, with a Douriki of 2450! What an incredibly strong crew, three members in the top five."
"Jiiku!" The crew shouted as they looked at him as he was flexing his muscles. "I didn't know he was stronger than you Tairaa!" Sakie said as the crew still looked in shock as their captain wasn't the strongest of their crew.
"Well I could have told you that, of course Jiiku is stronger than me. But don't forget, that machine doesn't take into account Devil's Fruit powers, when I fuse with Roje and Jeimuzu my power grows incredibly." Tairaa said, trying not to look depressed by how much Jiiku had beaten him by.
"But just wait until you hear the number 1 value. It's Noboru of the Gold River Mercenary Group, with a Douriki that barely seems possible, at 3100!"
The mercenary group instantly broke in cheers, and the crew could see the look of fear in everyone else's eyes as they looked at the mercenary group.
"Looks like we have some competition." Kurisu said as he sat down on the floor.
The crew received the paper with their ratings on it and it read as follows:
Wild Cat Pirates
Jiiku – 2450
Tairaa – 2000
Razar – 1050
Bearpaw – 975
Kurisu – 875
Akira – 750
Sakie - 350
Cora - 250
Yura – 225
The crew all were amazed at the distance between some of the numbers, especially how close Bearpaw had come to making it into the top 5.
"Well I guess we aren't superhuman." Yura said as she reviewed the girls' numbers.
"Don't worry about it, you guys fight with weapons mostly anyway, physical strength doesn't always relate to how good you are with a weapon." Tairaa said smiling towards the girls. "It's not like this is going to affect how I feel about your abilities or something, its just a stupid measuring system, and plus, if a normal marine is at 10, you guys are probably equivalent to a whole squad, or even a whole ship."
"A common thing to say for a guy who had his second in command beat him!" Jiiku said as he patted Tairaa on the back, seeing a hint of anger in Tairaa's eyes.
"Alright guys, calm down. Let's just worry about who our next opponent is going to be." Bearpaw said as he pointed towards a board that was being put up near the entrance to the arena.
The crew went to examine it and saw that there were 16 teams that were divided into two branches, which met in the finals.
"Well I can tell you guys right now who is going to be in the finals." Kurisu said as he looked more closely at the board.
"How would you know that?" Akira questioned as he tried to find what Kurisu was looking at.
"Well look at this, we are in this branch here." Kurisu said as he pointed towards a small box on the first branch with Wild Cat Pirates written in it. "And that mercenary group is over here." Kurisu continued while moving over to the other branch and pointing to a similar box. "So unless something incredible happens where either us or that group is eliminated, we should probably meet in the finals."
"Well whatever, lets just get back to the inn and rest up for our fight tomorrow." Tairaa said as he began walking out, and even the crew could see the concern in his eyes.
Everyone looked at each other almost nervously before Jiiku spoke up. "Don't worry, he'll be fine once we kick some ass." Jiiku said as he smiled, the crew nodded in agreement and followed Tairaa back to the inn.
Late that night, a man in complete black clothing was jumping around the roof tops towards the inn the Wild Cat Pirates were staying at. He located their room and slowly opened the window, careful to not make a sound. After spending many hours in the dark his eyes had grown accustom to it. He quickly found Tairaa's bed and went beside it. He drew a knife from his belt and raised it over Tairaa's heart.
He took a deep breath and thrust downwards, but just before the blade hit its target, Tairaa's hand shot out and grabbed the wrist of the assassin. Before the assassin even had time to react, Tairaa had flipped out of bed and twisted the man's arm behind his back and slammed him into the floor. This woke up all the men in the room and the women came rushing over.
The crew looked on as Tairaa activated his Devil's Fruit powers and once the light cleared all the crew could see was the man's head sticking out of the floorboard.
"These powers come in very handy for interrogation, or holding. But man, I needed this, hitting something feels so good when you are depressed." Tairaa said, now smiling.
"Told you." Jiiku said to the crew, as he also began smiling.
"I don't even have to ask this guy any questions; I'm sure even Jiiku can tell right now that he was probably sent by the families of those noble fighters we defeated." Kurisu said as he had one of his katanas placed against the man's neck.
"Ya, obviously." Jiiku said, before pausing slightly. "Hey! Was that an insult?"
"Just ignore it Jiiku, lets just throw this guy out of here and go back to sleep." Razar said, who didn't even take the time to get out of his bed in the first place, he had simply thrown the sheets back and stopped once he saw the man was already caught.
"I agree with Razar." Akira said as he picked himself up off the floor after rolling out of bed because of the noise.
"Alright fine, but let me do something first." Tairaa said as he looked around the room and saw Yura. "Yura, come over here and actually make sure that he was sent by the nobles. I assume you can look through memories?"
"Of course." Yura walked forward and placed her hand on the man's forehead. "Now you should be worried, this will hurt, a lot!" Yura said as suddenly a purple glow covered her hand and the man's head shot back as if he was having a seizure.
Several seconds later the glow faded and the man seemed on the brink of passing out. "He obviously hasn't been an assassin for long, he didn't attempt to resist at all." Yura said as she looked down at the man.
"He's like that from not resisting, what happens when someone tries to resist?" Bearpaw said as he seemed concerned for the man.
"Well it depends on the person, sometimes their brain overloads and they…. I mean, you don't want to know." Yura said, trying not to scare the crew. "But you were right Kurisu, he was sent by the nobles, and he was paid quite handsomely."
"I could have told you that, it's why I was awake. Roje and Jeimuzu could hear the jingling of the coins from very far away, and they woke me up. He really is a new assassin." Tairaa said as he pet Roje and Jeimuzu, who had been lying beside his bed. "Anyway, Jiiku could you do the honours?" Tairaa said as he unfused the man from the floor.
"Certainly." Jiiku responded and before the assassin had time to recover from being whole again, was kicked incredibly hard in the back by Jiiku and sent flying out the window and through the night sky. A loud crashing noise was heard several seconds later.
"Good night everyone." Tairaa said as he quickly passed out again in his bed, everyone else quickly followed.
The rest of the night went without problem and the morning soon arrived. The crew had to prepare themselves for yet another battle.
The next few days were quite simple for the Wild Cat Pirates. Wake up in the morning, go to the arena, fight a group, win and go back to sleep. They quickly advanced through the first two battles with nothing but small scrapes and bruises, disposing of a weak pirate crew and a group of bounty hunters.
The semi final would prove to be one of the harder battles for the crew. They faced a group of martial artists from a nearby island. It was decided that it would be a group fight, but Tairaa and Jiiku insisted on fighting the whole battle by themselves, Tairaa even going as far as to not use Roje and Jeimuzu.
Their opponents attacked with many different styles, some only using their legs, others using different weapon related martial arts. But Tairaa and Jiiku managed to take all of them out until it was just them and the master of the group.
"Well, you two seem like quite competent martial artists, why have you gotten yourselves into the disgraceful act of piracy?" The man asked as he dropped into a fighting stance.
"That's personal." Tairaa and Jiiku both said as the also got into fighting stances.
They both charged forward and sped off in different directions. Tairaa attacked from the right and Jiiku attacked from the left. The master lifted his arms and blocked both attacks, quickly dropping down and spinning, attempting to trip both Tairaa and Jiiku. Tairaa managed to jump up in time to dodge the attack, but Jiiku was hit and started falling backwards. Jiiku launched his hands backwards and managed to do a back flip and get out of range of the master.
Now the master charged at Tairaa and the two began exchanging blows. The master threw a quick punch at Tairaa's chest, but Tairaa brought both his hands up and blocked the attack, instantly kicking his leg outwards and hitting the master in the chest, sending him sliding backwards.
Jiiku came from behind the master and quickly tripped him, but in mid-air the master shot his arm out and grabbed on to Jiiku, and managed to pull himself upright while slamming Jiiku into the ground.
The master quickly jumped up so he was over Tairaa, and started falling towards him. Tairaa punched at the same time the master did and their fists collided, sending out a small shockwave that sent the master flying back up in the air and Tairaa sliding backwards on the ground. Tairaa wasted no time in dashing forwards again and quickly jumping in the air after the master. He was happy to see Jiiku doing the same thing.
They surrounded the master in mid-air and attacked him from both sides; he was unable to block the attacks and was kicked twice by both Tairaa and Jiiku. The master fell back and slammed into the ground. A dust cloud forming around the impact zone.
The crew was surprised to see that when the dust cloud dissipated, that the master was still standing. And they were even more surprised when he turned to Tairaa and Jiiku and bowed, with Tairaa and Jiiku quickly doing the same.
The master spoke first. "I am glad to see you have taken care of my former pupil, and that he has grown so much." The master said while looking towards Tairaa, he than turned and looked towards the announcer. "I surrender; I will not be able to best these people in combat."
"Amazing!" The announcer quickly yelled. "The Wild Cat Pirates destroy a team that looked very promising from the beginning. This win also advances them to the finals to fight the winner of The Gold River Mercenary Group and The Four Blues Pirates.
The crew had two hours to catch up with Jiiku's old master before they had to sit down to watch the fight.
"So, has Jiiku always been this way?" Kurisu said as he motioned over to Jiiku, who was trying to balance a random pot he found in the hallway on his finger, with some of the attendants chasing him to get it back.
"Sadly, yes." The master responded. "But he has amazing potential; he is able to grasp almost any technique he is shown almost instantly. You are very lucky to have him on your crew."
"Certainly." Tairaa responded, "Just a question, but do you happen to know where he learned the Rokushiki techniques? He has been teaching them to me, but they are suppose to be very hard to acquire I thought."
"I thought I saw you doing a Rankyaku at one point." The master responded. "Well it was on a day where we had taken a trip to a island to find new opponents for Jiiku, as he was getting bored with the students at my dojo and had his father pay for the trip, so I tagged along to keep him safe."
"He got in trouble, didn't he?" Tairaa quickly interrupted.
"Of course, but this actually wasn't his fault." The master responded, seeing the shocked looks from the crew. "That day, a group called CP9 was apparently going to assassinate three people in the village that were in the restaurant we were in. One of the CP9 members that had a giant zipper on his mouth told their plans to the restaurant even though the other members tried to silence him. They proceeded to kill everyone in the restaurant, but as they charged at me, Jiiku managed to stop one of their attacks. They then recognized him and asked for forgiveness for attempting to attack him. He told them the only way he wouldn't tell his father and the marines would be if they taught him their techniques, and they reluctantly agreed. He uses them very little, so I'm actually surprised he still remembers them to teach to you."
"Jiiku surprises people all the time; I've pretty much just gotten use to it." Tairaa said as he began laughing. "Well it was nice meeting you; we must be going to see this match. Have a safe trip home." The two shook hands and parted ways.
The crew soon found some seats and waited for the match to start. Once again it was decided that the fight would be a group fight, but once again the mercenary group only sent out one fighter. The crew couldn't get a great look at him, asides from the fact he had long brown hair. He also carried a small round shield made of metal and a short sword.
The members of the opposing team began running forward at this man. He quickly took out the first one by hitting him in the face with his shield and knocking him unconscious. He blocked an incoming sword with his sword and than hit that man with his shield, also knocking him out.
The other team slightly backed off before charging forward again. The man proceeded to quickly dispatch all of the members, asides from someone who looked to be the captain. He carried two long swords, one in each hand. He charged forward and put a great amount of pressure on the mercenary. The mercenary was being forced back to everyone's amazement and was even hit several times, resulting in several cuts on his body.
The mercenary eventually regained his balance and pushed forward, causing the captain to step back slightly. This gave the mercenary the opportunity he needed, he quickly did an uppercut motion with his shield and arm sent the captain flying up into the air. He than jumped up after him and cut the captain twice across the chest, and when the captain was falling back down, he hit him in the back with the grip of his sword, finishing the battle.
The crowd cheered and the announcer went crazy yet again. The mercenary group raised their hands in victory and quickly pointed towards the Wild Cat Crew, slicing their throats with their fingers.
"That's quite the challenge." The announcer quickly yelled. "But unfortunately we are going to have to wait a couple days for the final match so that each team has the time to heal and train. We will see you all in 5 days." And with that, everyone began leaving the arena.
The Wild Cat Crew sat in the stands and instantly began planning out training schedules and rest time. The next five days were filled with many different types of training. Some days Tairaa and Jiiku would go over different martial arts techniques with the crew, other times Cora and Razar would go over ways to avoid sword attacks, and than they would have days where people would pick a sparring partner that they normally didn't fight to learn how to fight all kinds of weapons. No one complained and they all worked as hard as they could all day, every day, no one wanting to lose the upcoming match. Every member of the crew found it easy to work with everyone, including Jiiku, when they were focused on training.
It was the day of the match that the crew received an unexpected visitor. Upon leaving their inn, they were greeted by Damian.
"Well, looks like you guys are ready to fight." Damian said as he leaned against a pole in the street.
"Well look who it is, mister Arena Champion. Why the surprising visit?" Tairaa said as the crew stopped to listen to Damian.
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys about me being the champion before, I needed you to enter the tournament and if I had told you that, you probably would have just not done it." Damian paused before continuing. "Here's what I propose. I am the champion of the arena, but not of my own free will."
"What do you mean?" Bearpaw said, as the crew looked at Damian, confused.
"Well just look at this." Damian said as he pulled down the collar of his shirt to give a view of his neck with what seemed to be some kind of metal ring like device on it. The device had many flashing lights and buttons.
"Oh my god, what is that?" Cora said, sounding horrified.
"It's an adaptation of the slave collar the World Nobles use. It allows me to roam free and doesn't explode luckily, but it can shock me whenever the owner wants and stops me from using my full power." Damian said, stopping for a brief second. "And the only time they take it off is during the fight where the champions of the team tournament face me. So here is my plan."
Tairaa interrupted before Damian had a chance to speak. "Before we hear your plan, I want to know how we can trust you."
"Easy," Damian said as he threw the injured body of a man at the crew. "Go ahead, Mind Mind girl, read his mind."
Yura stepped forward, already slightly alarmed that he knew the name of her fruit. Once again she placed her hand on the man's head, and a purple glow enveloped her hand. Once the glow faded Yura turned to face the crew. "This man was part of a group of assassins sent to kill us; they were going to ambush us as we came out of the inn. Damian intervened and defeated them all."
"Well how do we know he didn't plan it?" Kurisu said, still suspicious.
"Well from the memories I could tell this person had never met Damian before, so I think we can trust him." Yura said, as she walked back towards the crew.
"Alright than, let's hear your plan." Tairaa said, as the crew slightly calmed down.
"Ok, well this plan will only work if you guys beat the Gold River Mercenary Group and win the tournament." Damian started.
"No problem, we have this fight in the bag." Jiiku said, with amazing confidence.
"Well, after you win, you will be given a day of rest, than you will pick one member to fight me." Damian continued. "I suggest Tairaa does that, because once they take the collar off me, we can use your speed to get out of the arena before the majority of the guards can catch us. The hard part will be getting out of the harbour, because the marines will be chasing you for your bounties, as well as the fact that you beat the Blood Hounds."
"Well I think we can handle that, our ship is a lot faster and stronger than it looks, and it looks pretty good to begin with." Razar said with a big smile on his face.
"Well, after we escape, I would be honoured if you let me join your pirate crew." Damian said, bowing in front of Tairaa.
"Well, how could I say no, we would be glad to have you." Tairaa said, extending his arm.
"It's a deal than." Damian said as he shook Tairaa's hand.
"Well guys, lets go win these finals!" Tairaa said as he punched his fist up in the air.
The rest of the crew quickly did the same, yelling "YA!"
The stands at the arena were completely full, not a single seat was without a person. So many people wanted to see this fight that the organizers of the arena had to turn people away and set up another area with a screen so that people could watch the match from outside, for a good price of course.
When the crew walked out to the outer ring of the arena, people erupted in cheers, shortly followed by another burst of cheers when the Mercenaries walked out.
Once everyone had calmed down, the announcer came on over his Den-Den Mushi Megaphone. "Attention ladies and gentlemen. This is it, the moment you have all been waiting for, the final for the Group Tournament is here!" The crowd once again began cheering. "Now, introducing first, the group at the south end of the arena, THE WILD CAT PIRATES! Consisting of Captain 'Wild Cat' Tairaa, Jiiku, 'The One Man Arsenal' Razar, Akira 'Devil Eye' Kido, Cora, Yura, Sakie Felgray, 'Father Nature' Bearpaw Jones and Kurisu." The crowd began chanting and yelling certain names that were inaudible to the crew.
"Now introducing their opponents, THE GOLD RIVER MERCENARY GROUP! Consisting of leader, 'The Unstoppable Offense' Noboru, 'The Unhittable' Hideki, Makoto, Tsutomu, Big Jack, Koichi, Reiko, Fumi and Emiko." The announcer let the crowd begin yelling again before he started talking. "Now since both groups have nine members, we will be having a one on one match. So without further delay, teams, pick your first fighter!"
The man referred to as Big Jack was the first one to step out; now the crew could get a better look at him. He was almost 9 feet tall and bald; he had a leather jacket and several tattoos going down both of his arms. He carried a incredibly large sword, even bigger than he was. Kurisu quickly caught note of this. "Hey, no one uses big swords but me. This guy is mine."
"No way." Bearpaw quickly interrupted "This guy beat me at that strength test, and there is no way I'm letting him have that glory." Bearpaw quickly walked in to the main arena, determined to beat the man who had beaten him in the Douriki chart.
The announcer quickly shut the gates and started yelling yet again. "Well this is going to be an interesting first match indeed. "The One Man Arsenal" Razar and Big Jack, ranked number five and four on the Douriki charts respectively. Each has destroyed any opponents put in front of them, but how will they do against each other?"
With that Razar quickly took his shell off and threw it at Jack. Jack quickly raised his sword, yelling "That kind of attack won't work on me!" He swung his sword like a bat and hit Razar's shell in mid-flight, sending sparks flying in all directions and sent it flying back towards Razar. Razar managed to duck under his shell and catch it again without injuring himself.
"My turn!" Jack yelled as he began running forward, with his sword dragging on the ground behind him. When he got closer to Razar, he swung his sword horizontally aimed directly at Razar's stomach.
Razar had enough time to bring his shell up to block the sword, but the huge impact force caused a crack to form on Razar's shell. Razar quickly jumped back, avoiding the rest of the swing. "You bastard! Do you realize how long it is going to take to fix that!" Razar yelled with great anger in his voice. Razar split his shell in half and put each half on one fist, his Pulsing Shell Blades came out of the ends and he began swinging wildly at Jack.
Jack managed to block most of the attacks by bring his sword to a middle position and slightly varying the angle he was holding it at. Razar slammed both his swords into Jack's sword and kept them there while pushing back. Jack began to feel the vibrations of Razar's swords and jumped back.
"Damn, I guess you noticed?" Razar said as he put his swords at his sides.
"Any respectable swordsman would have realized that." Jack said, as he put both hands on his sword and got into a battle position. Jack charged forward and the two once again began exchanging blows, each one landing several small hits on the other. "Well, guess I better stop fooling around and finish this." Jack said as he raised his sword high over his head. He suddenly began swinging his sword at a pace that no one thought possible with a weapon that big.
The strength behind the swings also increased and Razar was knocked off balance and his swords moved to the side. Jack took advantage of this and slashed Razar twice across the chest, causing a huge amount of blood to flying in all directions.
"RAZAR!" Cora and the rest of the crew yelled as they pressed closer against the arena gate.
Razar fell to his knees, the blood dripping and staining the ground. He managed to put his shell on his back and put his hand on the floor in an attempt to stand back up.
"Not so fast." Jack yelled as he kicked Razar in the face and sent him flying in the air. Razar landed hard on his back and more blood burst forth from his wound.
Razar laid on the ground for a second as Jack walked towards him. He felt unconsciousness approaching and felt extremely disappointed. Suddenly he began to hear Cora's voice. "Razar, do not give up. There is no way you can lose here! Win for me, win for yourself, win for the crew!"
Cora's speech awoke the last remaining bits of energy in Razar and he began to move. But before he could get far, Jack was standing over him, pointing his sword at Razar's throat.
"Any last words." Jack said, as he began laughing.
"Just one." Razar began as Jack looked at him surprised. "Smokescreen!" Suddenly from several spots on Razar's shell, black smoke came shooting out and covered the small area of the arena where Razar and Jack were. When the smoke cleared, Razar was standing in front of Jack, breathing heavily and holding his shell in his hands.
"You still think you can beat me?" Jack yelled with a mocking tone. "You're all out of tricks."
"Not quite." Razar said as he held his shell in one hand like a shield. Suddenly the spikes on his shell all went to the edges of it and began spinning around the shell at extreme speeds. "Shell Buzz Saw!" Razar yelled as he charged forward as fast as he could.
His buzz saw collided with Jack's sword and sparks flew in massive numbers in all directions. The force was too much for Jack and his sword was sent flying off to the side, giving Razar a chance to push his buzz saw into Jack's chest, which caused a gigantic gash and sent blood spilling in all directions.
Just than Razar turned off the saw and all the spikes went back to their original spots on the shell, he than pushed the spike part of the shell against Jack's chest. "Shell Missiles!" Razar yelled as the missiles went off at point blank range and caused an immense explosion that enveloped both fighters.
Within moments, both fighters were sent flying in opposite directions by the explosion. Razar hit the wall beside the gate to his crew mates and managed to steady himself despite the immense amount of pain he was in.
Jack on the other hand, slammed into the wall beside his crew and was knocked unconscious by the impact.
The crowd went crazy and the announcer soon followed. "That's it ladies and gentlemen! We have a winner for the first fight! Give it up for "The One Man Arsenal" Razar from the Wild Cat Pirates!" The crowd burst into cheers and the gates opened, allowing Bearpaw and the crew a chance to help Razar.
"Razar! You idiot why did you use the explosives at that close range." Cora said, with tears in her eyes from seeing the amount of pain Razar was in.
Razar managed to talk very lightly. "Well I wanted to end the fight with a bang." Razar said, giving a slight chuckle before closing his eyes.
"Bearpaw, how is he?" Tairaa said as he watched with a concerned face as Bearpaw examine Razar's wounds.
"He's lost a lot of blood, but luckily I brought my medical supplies with me." Bearpaw said as he took out a case he had with him. Bearpaw quickly bandaged and put different kinds of ointments on Razar when the arena medical team showed up.
The put Razar on a stretcher and began taking him away, when suddenly a sword was against one of their throats. The man turned to see Cora holding her sword out.
"If anything happens to him, you guys will pay ten fold." Cora said as she lowered her sword and allowed them to take Razar to the medical bay.
"Cora, if you want to follow him you can take the next fight and go after you win." Tairaa said, seeing the concern in her eyes.
"Thanks Tairaa, I think I'll take you up on that." Cora responded as she began walking out into the arena.
Tairaa grabbed her shoulder before she got all the way out. "Don't let your anger control your attacks, the last thing we need is for you to be seriously injured as well."
Cora nodded and continued walking out into the arena. Once she had gotten out the gate closed behind her, she looked across to see who the mercenaries would send out. After several seconds, a man walked out into the ring. It was the man who had defeated the pirate crew in the semi-finals just days earlier.
Now Cora could get a better look at him and his weapon. He stood just over 6 feet tall and had long brown hair that went just past his elbows. His sword appeared to be of average length and was a double edged blade, his shield was just big enough to cover his chest if held properly. Cora unsheathed her sword and got into a battle position.
The man was the first one to speak. "I really didn't want to fight you, but my team says that I'd probably be the best match for you. My name is Tsutomu, and who would you be?"
Cora seemed angered that this man was taking the time to talk to her, but she responded none-the-less. "I am Cora; now let's get this fight started." Cora said as she began running forward at Tsutomu.
Tsutomu brought his shield up in anticipation. "I couldn't agree more." Just before Cora got close to him, she vanished in a blur of motion. Suddenly Tsutomu turned to his right and blocked Cora's sword with his shield and than pushed and threw her back. "Ah, a speed type. How interesting." Tsutomu said as he now began running forward.
Tsutomu did an overhead swing at Cora, who brought her sword up to block the attack just above her head. She quickly than slipped under Tsutomu's sword and elbowed him in the chest, sending him sliding backwards several feet.
Tsutomu charged forward yet again and the two clashed for several seconds, with neither one being able to land any hits. Cora swung hard at the same time Tsutomu did, and their swords slammed together in between them, and than they both jumped back several feet.
Cora pointed her arm straight at Tsutomu. "Dancing Sword Style: Rapid Snake Arm Slice!" Cora yelled as she began moving her arm up and down at an incredible speed and causing five blades of air to be sent flying towards Tsutomu, who managed to block the first two, but the third knocked his arms holding his sword and shield to the side and he was hit by the last two, causing two long but shallow cuts on Tsutomu's chest.
"Well, you have managed to hit me, and that's more than most people can say who have fought me. But play time ends here!" Tsutomu yelled as he charged forward, sword held by the opposite hip than the hand that was holding it.
When he got closer to Cora, Tsutomu did a upwards diagonal slash with a tremendous amount of power behind it. Cora attempted to block but the forced knocked her sword arm out of the way and Tsutomu took this chance to hit her chest with his shield and send her flying backwards. Tsutomu quickly dashed forward in pursuit and stabbed at Cora's chest.
Cora managed to dodge to the side at the last second, but the sword still hit the top of her left arm, causing it to go limp. Luckily for Cora it was not her sword arm.
"Ha, how good are you going to be with only one arm!" Tsutomu yelled as he began laughing.
"I don't know, how about you ask that!" Cora said as she pointed towards his right leg with her sword.
Tsutomu looked down to see that he had a gash on his leg right above his ankle. Cora had sliced him while diving to the side and getting hit by his sword. "Well, I guess I underestimated you. But you won't be alive for much longer for me to make that mistake again." Tsutomu yelled as he once again charged forward.
Cora looked as if she wasn't going to dodge, but at the last second she disappeared in a blur again, and before Tsutomu realized what had happened, Cora was behind him and slashed his back. She disappeared again as Tsutomu turned around and this time appeared beside him and slashed his arm that was holding his shield, causing him to drop it.
Cora than jumped back and saw the look of anger on Tsutomu's face. "You aimed for the wrong spot idiot!" Cora said as he readied her sword again. "Or did you already forget that it was you who called me a 'speed type'? It doesn't matter if I don't have one arm, as long as I still have my legs you won't be able to hit me."
"That can easily be fixed." Tsutomu said as he readied his sword, but for the first time, didn't dash forward. "Now let's see if you can hit me again?" He said as he tempted Cora.
"I'll take that bet." Cora said as she once again disappeared from view.
Suddenly Tsutomu spun to the side and sliced right as Cora appeared from thin air, hitting her leg and causing Cora to jump back.
"You are way too predicable." Tsutomu said as he wiped the blood from his sword.
Cora looked at the injury to her leg and realized she wouldn't be able to move fast for much longer. I'll have to end this quick. She thought as she studied her opponent. Well, I might as well try it. Cora readied her sword and yelled out "Dancing Sword Style: Graceful Ballet!" As she moved incredibly fast around her opponent and than appeared behind him, but as she passed him, several clashes of metal were heard, despite it looking like Tsutomu had not moved at all.
"Did you really think that would work on me? Don't think you are the only one who can move parts of their body at high speeds. I've seen those kinds of attacks so often that I've learned how to block them." Tsutomu said as they turned around to face each other yet again.
"Well I was hoping, but I guess I still need to weaken you!" Cora yelled as she ran forward. The two once again began clashing, each managing to land small cuts on the other because of the weakened state of both fighters. After several seconds, the two once again jumped apart, breathing heavily and dripping with blood.
"Well, I hope this still works with one hurt leg." Cora said quietly as she began lifting her legs slightly off the ground and slamming them into the floor in rapid succession.
"What are you trying to do, dig a hole with your feet that they can bury you in?" Tsutomu said as he laughed.
"Dancing Sword Style: Quickstep Launch!" Cora yelled as her feet pick up an even greater pace, she suddenly hit both of them against the ground right after each other and shot herself forward at a speed so fast not even Tairaa could see her. She was moving so fast that Tsutomu didn't have time to dodge or block before Cora was right in front of him. While still moving at an amazing speed, she grabbed onto Tsutomu with both hands and yelled "Dancing Sword Style: Partner Toss!" She than used all her remaining energy from the speed boost to throw Tsutomu up in the air and spin him around at a speed that made him unable to see anything and incredibly dizzy.
Cora than jumped in the air after him and swung her sword as hard as she could and as fast as she could, blood spraying in all directions from the multiple cuts emerging on Tsutomu.
When Tsutomu hit the ground he was unconscious from loss of blood and everyone knew it. "That's it, the fight is over!" The announcer began yelling almost instantly after Tsutomu had hit the ground. "An amazing display of speed and power from Cora of the Wild Cat Pirates! That makes two wins for the Wild Cat Pirates and none for the Gold River Mercenary Group! Can they recover from these first two fights. Lets find out, teams pick your next fighter!"
Cora walked out of the arena and was greeted quite well by the Wild Cat Crew. "That speed was amazing!" Tairaa said as Cora got Bearpaw to look at her wounds. "How did you do that!"
"Easy," Cora began. 'I watched you and Jiiku when you were doing that Soru move. Jiiku was saying that you do it by kicking the ground at least ten times in a spilt second. I cant move my legs as fast as you guys go instantly, it takes of bit of building up, but once I do build up my leg speed I can hit the ground around 15 times in a spilt second, so I move much faster."
"I should have figured." Tairaa said as he patted Cora on the back. "Now go see Razar."
"Thanks Tairaa and good luck guys." Cora said before walking out of the ring towards the medical bay.
Akira walked out into the ring, not even waiting for the crew to decide. The earth cracking as he walked, showing his anticipation. The gate closed behind him, and that is when the rest of the crew noticed he had walked out.
"Man, he seems really ramped up, I haven't seen him like this in a while." Tairaa said as the crew watched chunks of the earth float up in the air and circle around Akira. The chunks began to spin at an increasing speed until they finally stopped and fell to the ground.
"One of you get out here! I'm ready!" Akira yelled as the crowd began cheering.
One of the mercenary members walked out, he stood just under 6 feet tall, and looked very slim. He had shoulder length purple hair that was tied back in a pony tail. He carried two tonfas, one in each hand. As soon as the gate closed behind him he wasted no time in charging forward at Akira
Akira pulled up and rock wall but the man came charging, he punched out and hit the rock wall dead in the center, and to everyone's amazement, it shattered.
"Well, I'm guessing you are just below that other guy on the Douriki chart?" Akira said while jumping back after his wall was broken.
"Good guess. My Douriki is 1045, just short of being in the top 5. And I guess I will tell you the name of the man who is going to kill you. I am Makoto, and I am praised for my ability with these tonfas." Makoto said as he spun the tonfas around in a stunning display.
"Well, I am Akira Kido, user of the Tsu Tsu no Mi and the one who will be winning here today." Akira said, as he smiled.
"We'll see about that!" Makoto yelled as he charged forward.
"Tsu Tsu Staff!" Akira yelled as he slammed his foot into the floor, a long solid piece of earth shot out and Akira caught it in mid-air. Akira than brought it in front of him to block the tonfas.
Once the tips of the tonfas had hit the staff, Akira pushed up and caused Makoto's hands to be thrown in the air. During this time Akira spun the staff around in a circle, holding it by the end, slamming it into Makoto's stomach, sending him flying to the side.
"Well, you are not as unskilled as I thought." Makoto said as he wiped away a little bit of blood that had come out of his mouth.
"And this isn't even my strong suit." Akira said as he spun around the staff.
"Well than I better use all of my power to end this quickly." Makoto said as he readied himself and ran forward again. He swung both his tonfas in an overhead swing.
"Didn't you learn that wont work?" Akira said as he raised his staff to block.
At the last second Makoto let go of the handles of his tonfas and grabbed them at the tip of the long part, spinning them around so the handles were facing down. He used the handles to hook onto Akira's staff and pull it away from him, at the same time kicking Akira in the chest and sending him flying backwards.
Akira collided with the arena wall and spat out blood as he hit the floor. Akira was very quick in recovering and suddenly slammed his fist into the earth, a huge boulder came out and Akira punched it with all his strength. "Tsu Tsu Gatling!" He yelled as the boulder exploded into pieces and flew towards Makoto.
Makoto began spinning his tonfas while lightly holding onto the grip. He managed to block almost all of the rocks that were sent flying at him, some small ones got through but didn't leave much damage.
"Is that all you've got? Little pebbles!" Makoto yelled as he taunted Akira.
"Not even close1" Akira yelled back as he put both his hands on the ground. Suddenly earth began gathering around Akira's fists until the formed giant stone hands on top of Akira's regular hands. "Tsu Tsu Gauntlets!" Akira yelled as he began charging forward.
Akira ran at full speed and punched forward towards Makoto. Makoto attempted to block the punch with his tonfas but was unsuccessful and was hit directly in the chest. He was sent sliding backwards for several seconds before managing to balance himself.
Akira charged forward yet again and attempted another punch. At the last second, Makoto side stepped and managed to get out of the way of the punch but also grab Akira's wrist where there was no stone. Makoto wasted no time in using the tonfa in his other hand to hook Akira's neck to swing and throw him to the ground, still holding onto his arm. While Akira was stuck on the ground with his arm being held and his neck being hooked, Makoto lifted his leg and slammed it into Akira's stomach, causing Akira to cough up blood.
Makoto attempted to kick Akira again, but just as Makoto raised his leg, Akira yelled "Tsu Tsu Dome!" And hit the ground with his other hand, suddenly a large dome of earth began forming around Akira, and Makoto let go of Akira's arm and neck. When the dome had finished Akira quickly yelled "Tsu Tsu Gauntlet Launch!" and suddenly the gauntlets that were on Akira's fists came shooting out of the dome and hit Makoto in the face, sending him flying backwards and opening up small cuts on his face.
When Makoto looked back towards the dome, he saw it begin to go underground, it reappeared farther away from Makoto in an upright position, and when it dissolved, Akira was standing in the arena.
"That's a good trick." Makoto said as he readied his tonfas again.
"And I've got plenty more where that came from." Akira said as he once again hit his hands on the ground. "Tsu Tsu Crush!" Akira yelled as two giant boulders flew out of the ground, one on each side of Makoto. They flew towards him at a high rate of speed, but Makoto managed to jump in the air and avoid the boulders just as they slammed into each other, shattering upon impact.
As soon as Makoto landed he charged forward at Akira, who had no time to prepare himself and was unable to block when Makoto thrust both his tonfas forward and hit Akira in the stomach with the short end of both tonfas. As Akira knelled over in pain, Makoto quickly spun both tonfas and hit Akira on the top of his head, sending him falling towards the ground. As Akira was falling, Makoto kneed Akira in the face and sent him flying backwards into the arena wall.
"Had enough yet?" Makoto said as he watched Akira attempt the stand up.
"Yes. But that doesn't mean I'm giving up. I've just had enough of your annoying voice." Akira yelled as he managed to get up. He than slammed both his fists into the floor and the same time he slammed his feet into the floor. A giant wall of stone emerged from the ground in front of Akira. Who proceeded to punch the wall with both hands as hard as he could. "Tsu Tsu Pillar Gatling!" Akira yelled as suddenly multiple pillars of earth began shooting out of the wall and heading towards Makoto.
Makoto was unable to move out of the way and was hit by many of the pillars that sent him flying back and slamming into the arena wall. Akira was not done and started punching the stone wall as fast as he could and as hard as he could, causing more pillars to shoot out, slamming into Makoto while he was on the wall.
After a couple seconds Akira stopped and the wall of earth fell down, the pillars crumbled and Akira himself fell to his knees, completely out of energy. Everyone looked over and Makoto had been knocked unconscious by the repeated hits from the pillars. Akira raised his hand in victory.
"And that's it! Another victory for the Wild Cat Pirates! Is there nothing that can stop these people when they enter the arena?" The announcer yelled as the crowd burst into another round of cheers. "Well it looks like the Wild Cat Pirates are just itching for another fight; their next member is already walking out onto the field."
Kurisu had walked out onto the arena floor, he was slowly walking towards Akira. Once he reach Akira, who was still kneeling on the floor, he extended his hand. Akira reached up and grabbed Kurisu's hand and Kurisu helped him to his feet.
"Good job kid, I didn't think you had it in you." Kurisu said as Akira began walking back to the crew.
"Well just see if you can deliver a better performance than that!" Akira said with a smile on his face, finally reaching the crew.
"Great job Akira." Tairaa and everyone else said as Akira sat down with his back to the wall as he let Bearpaw look at his injuries.
"You don't want to go to the medical bay?" Sakie said as she watched Akira wince in pain as Bearpaw felt different parts of his stomach.
"I trust Bearpaw way more than any of those 'so called' doctors they have in this medical bay." Akira said, before arching his head back in pain when Bearpaw began applying herbs and bandages to the area that had been hit by kicks and tonfas.
"Thanks" Was all Bearpaw said before he continued his treatment.
Meanwhile Kurisu's opponent had come out of the other gate. It was one of the women of the mercenaries. She stood just shorter than Kurisu and had long black hair. She was wearing a skin tight outfit that covered her whole body except for her head. On her arms she had what appeared to be two swords that had been attached to her sleeve just before her wrist.
"Well that is an interesting way to hold your swords I guess." Kurisu said as he motioned towards the sword on each arm.
"Well whenever you talk to an experienced swordsman or weapons expert, they all say to think of the weapon as an extension of your arm, and I have taken that to the highest level. Now these swords are actually an extension of my arms." The woman responded.
"Well, may I know the name of the one who believes to know so much about swords?" Kurisu said as he took on of his large swords off his back.
"Certainly, I am Emiko. And who might you be?" Emiko said, as she readied her swords.
"I am Kurisu, and I think we should start this fight now." Kurisu said as he also readied his sword.
"I couldn't agree more." Emiko said as she dashed forward. She tried a double overhead swing but Kurisu brought up his sword and blocked both attacks, and than quickly jumped back.
"Crimson Wave!" Kurisu yelled as he swung his sword at high speed. A large red blade of air shot forward towards Emiko, who managed to bring both swords up in an x pattern to block the attack.
"Well it looks like you don't take it easy at all." Emiko said as she dashed forward again.
"Why would I take it easy if I want to win?" Kurisu said as he also dashed forward. Both of them swung their swords at the same time and clashed in the middle, a shockwave pushing both of them back slightly. They each attempted several more swings with neither one managing to get the upper hand.
"How can you be blocking my attacks with a weapon that over-sized!" Emiko yelled with anger in her voice.
"Easy, I have trained with swords since the age of 3 with a family that is obsessed with weapons martial arts. But I was only ever good with swords, and so I was declared the 'Sword Prodigy' of my family and was only taught sword techniques for the next 15 years before I left my family." Kurisu said as spun his sword around several times.
"Well, than beating you in a sword fight would be the highest of honours." Emiko said as she once again dashed forward. She swung her right sword and Kurisu blocked it, but when Emiko swung her left sword, he knew he would be unable to block it and jumped back.
But he did not react fast enough and Emiko's left blade grazed his stomach, leaving a small cut that bled slightly. "Impressive, being able to cut me is quite the accomplishment." Kurisu said as he looked down at the cut. "But its obvious to me now that I wont be able to beat your two swords with just my one. Be happy, this is the first time I have used both my swords against a single person." Kurisu than began to pull out his second large sword.
But Emiko gave him very little time and dashed forward. Swinging both of her swords at the arm that was drawing out his sword, but Kurisu managed to speed up his arm and pull out his sword to block the attack.
Kurisu than kicked Emiko in the stomach and sent her up into the air, and he quickly jumped up after her. When he got above her he swung both of his swords at the same time yelling "Double Crimson Wave!" As two large red blades of air shot out and headed towards Emiko. Emiko managed to bring her swords up to block the air blades, but was sent flying towards the ground from the impact.
She slammed into the ground travelling incredibly fast, causing a crater where she hit the ground. Kurisu landed in front of the crater and looked down into it and was surprised to see Emiko standing up.
"Damn, you are one resilient person." Kurisu said as he readied his swords yet again.
"And I'm just getting started!" Emiko yelled as she suddenly disappeared in a blur, appearing a few seconds later behind Kurisu.
Kurisu turned around in shock. "When do you get so fa…?" Was all Kurisu could say before 5 separate cuts burst open on his body. Blood sprayed many directions.
"I was going easy on you at the beginning to see how strong you really were. Obviously I over estimated your power." Emiko said as she turned around to face Kurisu, who still had a look of shock on his face. 'Is it that surprising that I cut you, Mr. Prodigy?"
"Frankly it is, not very many people have the kind of speed you do, but don't think that because you hit me once that you can do it again." Kurisu said as he readied his swords and charged forward. Kurisu swung one of his swords in an overhead swing, which Emiko had to use both of her swords to block.
While still pushing hard with the one sword, Kurisu stabbed his other sword at Emiko's stomach. To his surprise, right before the blade was about to hit her, she jumped in the air and managed to bend her legs enough that the sword went right past her. Once she was in the air, Emiko kicked Kurisu in the head and sent him flying into the arena wall.
Kurisu recovered quickly and began running forward at Emiko. "This ends now!" He yelled as he jumped up in the air.
"You think you can end this with one attack?" Emiko said as she laughed slightly.
"Of course!" Kurisu yelled as he thrust his sword downwards at Emiko, who quickly jumped back just enough to avoid the attack and Kurisu's sword got stuck in the ground.
"That was it!" Emiko said, once again laughing.
"Not even close!" Kurisu yelled as he pulled his sword out at an angle and sent dirt and rocks flying in the air at Emiko, who quickly covered her eyes with her arms. NOW! Kurisu thought as he saw the opening he had been hoping for. "Large Sword Style: Blood Star!" Kurisu yelled as he suddenly disappeared in a burst of speed. Reappearing several times within a very short time frame. (If you could have watched where he appeared each time and the direction he ran in, it would have formed a star)
Kurisu finally reappeared and stopped moving back where he had started. Emiko seemed motionless, until ten large gashes opened on her body and blood sprayed in every direction. Kurisu turned around, expecting to see Emiko on the floor, but to his surprise, she was moving forward, albeit very slowly, towards him.
"This… *cough*… won't stop… me…" Emiko managed to say as she slowly walked towards Kurisu. She tried to swing her sword, but Kurisu easily ducked under it and elbowed her in the stomach, causing more blood to spill from the wounds. Kurisu than hit Emiko in the face with the grip of his sword, finally knocking her unconscious.
"You have to realize when to admit defeat." Kurisu said as he looked on in shame at Emiko, who lay motionless on the floor.
"He's done it, Kurisu of the Wild Cat Pirates has made it four straight wins in a row for the Wild Cat Pirates!" The announcer yelled as the crowd began chanting 'Wild Cat'. "Can they hold out for another five fights and make this a clean sweep of the finals? We will soon find out."
Kurisu walked back to the crew and got Bearpaw, who had just finished with Akira, to start bandaging the cuts on his body. Kurisu looked straight at Tairaa and said "If any of you guys lose to these idiots I'm leaving the crew." Kurisu slightly smiled after saying this.
"Don't worry, just sit there and watch us." Tairaa said as he looked at the crowd, cheering for more fights. "This will be over before you know it."
Well there you go, hope you guys liked it and the next chapter will feature the next five fights, so look forward to that.
Once again, please review, I like peiple telling me how I can fix things.