Something came up so I wasn't able to update on time, but one day off isn't too bad right?

New World Bound

Chapter 25: Wild Western Showdown

The Second Game: Groggy Ring!

"Never!"

A female voice shouted loud enough for possibly the entire town to hear. The two groups had already moved outside in order to prepare for their next game, the Groggy Ring. Drawn into the dirt was an enormous playing field with a ring on either side of it. On the far right were the representatives for the Starfall pirates. This team consisted of the blonde female wearing an eyepatch known as Rena, the four armed fishman known as Simian, and lastly the rugged and mysterious individual known as Kujo.

Kujo however had a colorful ball strapped to his head, much to his dismay. The pirate frowned while looking at the rest of his team. "Why couldn't this dumbass fishman put this ridiculous thing on?" He sneered glaring at Simian. The fishman in question simply cackled in response while adjusting the two large guns on his back. Rena could also be seen with a rifle of sorts strapped to her back as well.

It seemed the Crimson Storm crew was having similar issues. Hideo and Ursa could'nt do much more but sweatdrop at the back and forth that Haze and Takato were having. "There's no possible way I could serve my lord while wearing such a ridiculous ornament." The marksman said in a blunt fashion that only fueled Haze's annoyance.

"There's no way I would wear that dumb thing either. Just put it on!" She lifted the ball hat over head and quickly snapped it around Takato's head. "See, you don't even look half bad in it." Takato seemed on the verge of frowning but kept his trademark flat line expression while preparing to remove the ball. "I'm no idiot…"

Van couldn't help but chuckle a bit. "Such an indecisive group you've got there captain."

Hideo sighed loudly and called over to the two of them. "Takato, you look pretty awesome in that hat." The marksman nodded wisely and spoke in a matter of fact sort of fashion. "Indeed, I shall be the ball then, for my Lord Katsua."

That said and done, the two of them took their position on the other side of the playing field and got prepared as Van explained the rules. "Alright, Groggy Ring is a simple games boys and gals. "Especially you my lovely Rena~" the blonde growled fiercely which managed to shut her captain up in a heartbeat. "Anyway, one player on each side will be the ball. Whichever side manages to score first wins. Normally this is a three vs three game with both sides being prohibited from the use of weapons, but seeing as the Crimson Failures have limited resources they will suffer a slight disadvantage. Both sides however have come to a decision of weapon use however. Now, let the games begin!"

The rowdy pirates Van had recruited burst into another uproar as the second match had officially begun. Amongst this crowd was both Julie and Froggy but it seemed none of the Crimson Storm pirates had noticed as of yet. Kujo began to crack his knuckles and rushed forward with incredible speed. "It's about fucking time I get to crush something. My fist have begging for me to kill something for hours now."

Haze readied herself as Takato lifted his bow and prepared an arrow. His eyes looked the man up and down his body slowly drew closer. "Not only is there ball heading straight for us but he's leaving his body completely open to our attacks. Whatever strategy they have in mind is pure suicide." Kujo seemed to only be focused on Haze at this point who wasn't moving.

"I don't know why, but my body is locking up. This guy I've never seen him in my life yet he seems so familiar" she claimed while drawing her sword. "But now isn't the time for this."

Before Kujo reached his intended target however two arrows went whizzing through the air and in his direction. The muscular man caught sight of them and smiled while punching the arrows heads with both fist. As he did so they both split right down the middle and continued speeding off past him. "Let's see how much Hazey girl has improved."

Haze seemed shocked for a mere moment but ducked back as the pirate punched towards her face. "What do you mean by that?" She responded while following up with a swing from her Nodachi. Kujo remained silent but smiled nonetheless. Despite having such a large frame the man managed to duck beneath her attack and follow up with an uppercut all in one swift motion. "Maybe using my devil fruit's power was a little too much for such a tiny crew as this."

As Haze was sent soaring into the air she recovered from the blow and aimed her sword downward while adjusting her position. A platform of red energy formed behind sword user that she used to push off of and launch herself directly down towards Kujo. "Kakuu-kagai! (aerial assault)" The great sword came towards the pirates body in a downwards swing that he leaped away from. The blade struck down with great force and left a tiny fissure where she landed and blowing up a dust cloud.

"Opening spotted." Takato said to himself and sent two more arrows going Kujo's way. "Gunpowder Bolt!" The muscular man saw them coming out from the smoke and prepared to dodge but the arrows exploded before even reaching him. The pirate put his arms up to guard himself and was pushed back by the strength of the explosions. Once the smoke had cleared the only visible damage done to him were the burnt and still smoking sleeves of his green coat.

"You finally done showing off over there?" Rena hissed from the other side of the field along with Simian. Kujo nodded and returned to their side scratching his head. "I'm warmed up enough. This is going to be a pretty crappy fight though. But I'll take what I can get."

Haze prepared to step forward and fight but was stopped as takato put his hand in front of her. "Don't do it. The numbers are against us and we have little information on these three. It would be wiser to stay back and let them come to us."

The swordsman pouted and rushed forward regardless. "No way am I going to just stand there and let them get to our side and score. Just stand back and covered me." Takato shook his head but was ready to fire at a moment's notice.

Van was now speaking into a microphone that connected to speaker type Den Den Mushi. "Seems the Crimson Failure team can't even work together for a common goal. How do they expect to pull through and win this one?"

Haze ignored the announcer's comments however and aimed at taking out all three of her opponents in one attack. "Dai Konki- Bakuha (great energy blast)!" She shouted while horizontally swinging the nodachi. Red energy traveled along the blade's edge and launched forward in the form of blade shape energy attack. The difference between this and her original attack however seemed to be the fact that this one was large in terms of horizontal length and thus more difficult to avoid and able to take out large groups.

The opposing pirate teem didn't seem to be bother by this however as the three of them jumped into the air above the attack in unison allowing it to simply keep going and out of the playing field. Haze smiled. Just as planned. "Takato, now!"

The boy seemed to catch on rather quickly to what her idea was and unloaded several zigzagged shaped arrows. "Lightning Bolt!" They were golden in appearance the moment they left Takato's bow they seemed disappear from sight. Sure enough it only took a moment before each member of the Starfall crew had a lightning bolt shaped arrow stuck in them. The first had struck Rena's shoulder, the next on in Kujo's arm, and the last in one of Simian's extra arms. They all came back to the ground and proceeded to remove them from their bodies.

Rena smiled gleefully as her shoulder began to bleed in a profuse manner. "Hm, a fellow sniper I see…" Her left hand coiled around a pistol at her side. "The way those arrows are designed are to they purposely fly with a zigzagging and confusing pattern making them difficult for any opponent to keep track of and avoid. But you must be a pretty good marksman if you can aim these so effectively."

Despite the compliments coming his way Takato had already reloaded his bow and was at the ready for another round. Haze on the other hand had her own problems to solve as Simian was now standing in front of her. "Smekeke. I get to play with you today I see. You'll surely make a fine specimen once we win this game."

"Don't count on it ugly." She responded and swung at one of his extra arms. "I should use regular techniques for now. Used way more energy than I should have on that last attack." Haze thought to herself as Simian had jumped back and pulled out one of his weapons. It was a rather crude and modified MGL (multiple grenade launcher) with odd capsules loaded into the 6 holders of the revolver.

"How about you have fun with some of my other favorite experiments?" He fired 3 capsules from the weapon on to the ground that split open and released a green goop with a rancid smell. From the strange liquid however rolled out an entire group of miniature shrews. Haze looked at them confused then back to Simian who only continued to smile before saying, "Now, attack, my minions!"

The moment the fishman got these words out the shrews began to growl in a feral manner and all leaped towards Haze covering her nearly head to toe. "Ahhh, what the hell is this!" She screamed as the little rodents began to bite into her skin.

"Smekeke. Man, what's biting her? Smekeke~" The fishman continued to cackle as Haze was gone into a frenzy to remove whatever had latched onto her body. Soon enough however she began to release energy from her body that repeled them to the ground. Moments later the entirety of the shrew armor fizzled away into a green slime. "What was that?" She shouted angrily.

"Just me having some fun before getting to the main course." He put away his first weapon and pulled out another. This one having a nozzle and hose rather than a barell and a tank at the top filed with green ooze. To put it simply it resembled something like an enormous water gun. "I call this one, Simian's Silly Slime, smekeke."

"Lightning Bolt." Two more zigzagging arrows were sent Rena's way but she easily solved this problem. From her clothing she pulled out a large iron sphere. Once thrown into the ground it burst into a cloud of smoke but there was the decisive sound of metal clanging against metal. Once the smoke had cleared it was revealed that sphere had released an odd contraption and unfolded into a shield.

From behind her barrier Rena managed to fire off two rounds from the pistol she had grabbed. Instead of firing bullets however, two quick moving fireballs made their way to Takato hit and hit dead on, covering him from head to toe in a blaze for a short while. "I'm not done." He said and loaded another new bolt. This one had a dip in the side of the arrowhead and all the way down to the end of it. In fact, the entire thing was a curve. "Your defense won't save you from this one."

The arrows were released and instead of following a straight path they instead curved outwards and around the woman's barrier. She clicked her teeth out of annoyance and leaped back to avoid while firing two shots from separate pistols.

Takato's eyes followed the two slow moving balls of iron going way off target from him as he wondered what her plan was. It wasn't until they had both gotten alongside the marksman did their effect activate. A line of electricity surged between the sphere that managed to catch Takato and send a violent shock coursing throughout his body. His eyes seemed to go completely blank until his legs gave in and the marksman fell to the floor, body charred and emitting smoke.

Shortly after this Haze was knocked to the ground as well at his side. Simian stood on the other side of the battlefield with an enormous mallet made of green slime slung over his shoulder. "I maybe a doctor and a shrimp, but never underestimate the strength of a fishman."

"Looks like both members of the Crimson Fail crew are out of it. The winners are obvious here folks." Van announced which sent the pirates into another uproar.

Haze and Takato stayed on the ground, unmoving and watched the sun up above. "You know, Takato, for a crew we've never really been a good team." The boy remained silent and unmoving but his eyes were focused on Haze. "Like when we had that argument back on Rushville and I slapped you. You're just the logical thinker and I'm so headstrong, ya know?"

The marksman nodded and began as well, "It was a novel about my dreams and feelings." Haze didn't know where this had come from and could only respond with a simple, "Hm?"

Takato adjusted himself and began to sit up but fell back on to his back. "When we were on our way to Myer Island and you took that book I was writing in from me. It's a novel I planned to write on my dreams and feelings. Back when Lord Katsua and I first met he asked me these questions and I couldn't answer them. And even now I don't know what the right thing is."

"Maybe, there just isn't a right or wrong answer?" She responded with a cheerful smile as a cloud passed overhead and blocked the sun for a short period.

"Well then folks, this game is done." Van continued to play the role of announcer and apparently referee at this point. "It's no wonder however. How these two could expect to win when they have a useless captain such as that dope over there. I mean…" Van was cut off by a sudden explosion as the speakers his voice was being transmitted through were busted. Back on the battlefield Haze and Takato were standing, both supporting the other's weight; Haze's nodachi still glowing with red energy and Takato reloading his bow.

"Insult our captain again and the next attacks are headed for you." Haze said confidently while turning to face their opponents once more. "You think you can keep going? I should have enough energy for at least a couple more big attacks."

Haze stepped away from Takato and towards the other side of the field. "What other choice do I have?" He had several more arrows loaded and ready to attack.

"Good, I'll go for that big guy and try to score as soon as possible. You'll back me up to the bitter end right?" Takato nodded and Haze's legs began to glow with energy. "Good, I should manage to sprint over there pretty fast just make sure the other two stay off me. We can't lose this second game no matter what."

In a flash Haze went into a speedy dash across the field aided by her devil fruit. This caught the opposing side by surprise but they were already on the move. Simian and Rena closed in on the sword carrier but were stopped by a series of explosions from Takato's gunpowder bolts. Kujo laughed and braced for impact as Haze grew closer. "And so the little guppy comes to fight the big bad shark?"

"Let's see this big bad shark stand up to my strongest move." She began as the energy from her legs vanished and instead her sword began to shine fiercely. "Sakura Odo…" She was cut off by Kujo's fist connecting with her stomach and completely kncking the wind out of her body. "Too slow, Guppy."

His strength was more than enough to heave the girl back over to her side of the field and at Takato's side. She spat up a bit of blood but didn't back down. "Guess we'll just have to rework our strategy."

"Too late for that." Rena remarked while putting away her pistols and pulling out another iron ball. She quickly threw it down at their feet where it exploded into a thick glue like substance that stuck Takato's feet to the ground and Haze's entire body as she was lying on the ground. Simian tossed the green mallet aside and released more of the slime from the nozzle while quickly shaping it at the same time.

"Simian's Silly Slime has well over 1000 uses you know. Silly Slime #622: Champion Simian!" The fishman commanded as it had now surrounded all four of his fist in oversized boxing gloves. Takato started lifting his bow to fire another bolt but two fists collided into his chest at once, followed by the next two, followed by three. Soon the marksman was being assault by a flurry of punches from the doctor to the point that blood was beginning to drop to the ground and stain Simian's white lab coat. With a final decisive blow, the fishman struck him with all four fists at once in a final uppercut that lifted him and a chunk of earth stuck to his feet as well.

"Takato!" Hideo called from the sidelines as he saw the teen was just barely conscious and struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Guess I'll have to conclude my fun with this for the day." Kujo leaped into the air and grabbed Takato, putting him in a pile driver. The marksman was slammed headfirst into the ground inside of the goal ring with enough force to make a small crater where he landed. Kujo stood up and dusted of his hands while grabbing haze from the ground after Rena had thrown some sort of solvent into the slime. "We'll be claiming this as our prize."

As the group of Starfall pirates burst into applauds Hideo and Ursa were already at Takato's side. Froggy and Julie also came out of the crowd and stood at the side of the fallen teen. "Froggy, he's not moving or anything, you have to help him!" Hideo said frantically at grim sight in front of him.

Takato was a mess, covered in blood and tattered clothes and remained unresponsive. Froggy didn't seem to confident but smiled and said shakily, "I'll do what I can."

"So Hideo, what will you do now?" Van questioned, but the gray haired teen ignored him for the time being.

Meanwhile, just off of Wild Western Town several marine vessels were sailing towards the location of the pirate game. A large man with green hair and in a uniform customized with chains and the like spoke into a Den Den Mushi. "Yes sir, this is Lieutenant Commander Roland Grand of the Karkade Division. Along with the rest of the soldiers we're on our way to Wild Western Town with…him in charge. We should be hitting land and starting this pirate extermination soon."

Davy Back Fight: Crimson Storm Pirates vs Starfall Pirates

Game 1, "Capture The Flag" Winners: Kurtz and Julie of the Starfall Pirates.

Game 2, "Groggy Ring" Winners: Simian, Rena, and Kujo of the Starfall Pirates.

Final Round, "Captain's Brawl": Hideo of Crimson Storm vs Van of Starfall

Alright, hope you guys enjoyed that one. Most of you are probably wondering how the Crimson Storm Crew will turn this around after losing not only one, but two members. You'll get your answer to that next chapter. Oh, and in case any one is wondering about some of the references made in this chapter you can check out chapter 12 for the diary that Takato and Haze speak about and chapters 7-11 for Roland and the Karkade divison

As for plans for future update schedules I may manage the next one on Sunday, if not then you can likely expect it on Tuesday or Wednesday. After that there won't be anymore updates until another week or so due to me going out of town for the Thanksgiving break.

So lastly I'd just like to mention a manga I read this week by the name of Onani Master Kurosawa. It's really good and only about 30 chapters so you should manage to finish it rather quickly. Now, the plot is rather off putting, but if you give it a chance and read to the end I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

As usual, review; hope you enjoyed, and that you'll stick around until the next update.