Pirates!

Davy Back Fight Part 3

Dodge-ball

The dodge ball square was dug out in the thick snow, a large square that fit both teams, as well as plenty of moving space, easily. Faith, Aya, and Jae stood in different places around their half of the field, waiting for the sign to begin. They each wore a red bandana around their arms (provided by the opposition of course). Fredrick, Tsu, and Bolt stood on their own half of the court, wearing in golden bandanas with their crew's name written in black. The announcer from before stepped forward.

"The rules of this game are extremely strict!" he announced. He was wearing a golden bandana as well over the sleeve of his striped jacket. "There are no weapons. Cheaters will be decapitated!"

That statement made the Crescent Dagger's stagger. Jae's eyes widened. Decapitated! He looked at the others; they were obviously thinking the same thing.

"Team Captains, step forward,"

Without a moment's hesitation, Fredrick approached, stopping just before his line. "I'll jump," Faith decided. She walked forward, phasing into her hybrid form in the process. At once, the large crowd surrounded gasped in a mix of disgust and absolute awe. Fredrick seemed unfazed by the transformation. Uwee hee hee," he snickered in a voice that sounded psychotic. "An interesting transformation there, hee hee,"

"You haven't seen anything yet," Faith assured him. From this distance, Faith could see his eyes now. They were green, like Chris', though they didn't look as kind or caring as hers, rather they were maniacal, twisted. They glowed beneath he hood of his cloak.

The announcer beside them held two rubber balls roughly the shape of volleyballs. "You can't cross the line. If you get knocked out of the ring, you're out. If you get hit, you're out. If you drop the ball, you're out. Easy enough?"

"Sure," Faith said.

"Too easy, uwee hee hee," Fredrick declared.

"Right then, the game begins at my whistle," the announcer said. He stepped back and placed the whistle in his mouth as he stepped back. Faith stared at Fredrick angrily. This was of the utmost importance. If they didn't win this game and lost another crewmember, Chris would only be able to save one of them. She growled a low, feral growl at Fredrick in warning, but the man only laughed at her.

Then, the whistle blew and the balls went soaring into the air. Faith crouched for the briefest of moments and then vaulted herself into the air. Fredrick remained calmer, reaching into his pocket and extracting a jet-black cube. He grinned as he popped it into his mouth. "Rush Mode," he said, followed shortly by, "Rush Teleport,"

And then he was gone.

Faith, in the air, managed to grab hold of one of the balls and reached for the second one quickly. However, before she could grab it, Fredrick appeared and snatched it out of the air. Damn, she scowled.

The two landed on the ground simultaneously and Faith melted back into her human form, holding the ball tightly. She saw Fredrick preparing to throw and thrust her own ball into her mouth. She changed into her wolf form just as the ball went shooting past where her shoulders once were, and then spun and ran toward the crew.

The ball approached Aya with such speed, she didn't even notice it until it was inches away from her chest. She gasped as it hit her, but before it could drop, she wrapped her arms around it. The force of the hit knocked her back, but she managed to stop (on her toes) just before touching the boundary line.

On her right, her crew cheered enthusiastically and she smiled. So far, so good! She looked up to see Faith turning back into her human form, dropping the ball from her mouth into her hand. "Nice catch!" she said, flashing the girl a thumbs up.

Aya grinned and returned the gesture. "Alright, let's do this!" Faith continued. "Jae!" she tossed Jae the ball and he caught it easily with both hands. He grinned and turned, throwing it toward the opposite team. Faith smiled as she shifted into her wolf form for speed until she caught up with it, then, jumping into the air, she turned into her hybrid form and kicked the ball with all her might.

It picked up speed dramatically, going straight for the large Bolt. It was still spinning when it slammed directly into his face, knocking the man off his feet and down into the floor. Faith turned and slapped Jae a hi-five, then turned to Aya and did the same.

"Haha, the bigger they are, the harder they fall!" she announced.

"Safe!" The announcer suddenly shouted. Faith spun around and glared at the man on the sidelines.

"What do you mean safe?!" Aya shouted for her. "That was a direct hit! Look at him!" she pointed at the fallen Bolt in emphasis, who was trying to pull the ball out of his mouth.

"The face is safe!" The announcer repeated. "Bolt is still in the game!"

"That's a bunch of crap!" Aya protested.

"Just let it go, Aya-san," Jae said, trying to calm her down by putting a hand on her shoulder. Faith grabbed Aya's arm to keep her from tackling the announcer.

"It's alright, Aya, rules are rules! Don't worry, we've still got another ball!" she assured her. Hearing that, Aya looked down at the ball she still held in her hand and blinked.

"Oh, you're right…" she muttered. Suddenly, she grinned and turned toward the opposing team. "Alright, let's do this!"

"Nah-nah, nah-nah, you can't get me!" The young girl, Tsu, suddenly sang. She was dancing along the centerline, sticking her tongue out at Jae, Aya, and Faith as she chanted the phrase again and again. Aya gripped the ball tighter and ran toward the barrier.

"We'll see about that!" she decided. She skidded to a stop, but used the momentum to prepare her throw. However, just as she was about to release the ball, the little girl screamed and cowered.

"Wah! Don't hit me! It'll hurt!" she complained. Aya tripped, the momentum gone, and nearly fell in her attempts to stop the strike. The ball fell innocently and bounced on the ground on the other side of the line.

"Darn…" she muttered bitterly, standing straight.

Tsu suddenly grinned in a way that was unsuitable for her innocent looking face ,and grabbed the ball from the ground. She spun once and threw the ball directly at Aya with a cry of "Tsu Special Close Range Hit!"

The ball hit the surprised Aya square in the chest before the older girl could react. She was knocked off her feet and back, landing just outside the line in the snow, and lay there for several moments, catching her breath.

"Aya!" Faith shouted, surprised. Then, she turned her attention to the opposition. "That's gotta be cheating; she tricked her!"

"It's called strategy, uwee hee hee," Fredrick said. He was standing with his arms crossed, though his hand was twitching noticeably. Faith now turned her attention to the announcer and raised a questionable brow.

The announcer didn't even hesitate. "Aya Vincent from the Crescent Dagger team is out!" he declared.

Aya sat up and took several deep breaths, rubbing her chest where the ball hit. "Damn, that hurt…" she muttered bitterly. She stared at Tsu. "Me and my stupid soft spot for kids… little brat." She stood, picking up the ball that hit her in the process. "Faith, Jae, it's up to you!" she tossed the ball to Jae, who caught it with both hands.

Aya turned away and walked toward Chris, Gonzo, and Blue, standing at the side lines, and sat down near them in the cold snow. "Come on, you've got this guys! You can beat these guys in no time!"

Faith smiled slightly and turned back to the Gold Lion team. As soon as she was facing them, a ball hit her in the stomach. She coughed, shocked, and was knocked back, to her surprise, outside the ring on her butt. Aya winced at the sight. "Sorry!" she called. After all, it was her fault that Faith got hit.

"Oof," she grunted as she hit the snow. She looked at the ball that she held firmly in her arms and then looked up at Jae, who watched her, completely shocked. "Ow… you jerks…" she muttered under her breath.

"Faith-san, are you alright?" Jae asked her. Faith gave him a thumbs up as an affirmative and stood.

"Sorry, Jae, but you're on your own," she called, throwing the ball to the navigator. Jae caught it with his other hand and watched Faith turn and walk away toward the rest of her crew, hands in her pockets, and stood beside them.

"This is bad…" Blue decided. "You've got one member left on your team and three on theirs. The chances of winning are slim,"

At this, the rest of the crew turned their attention to Blue. "Don't doubt him," Faith said with a small smile. "Jae's a level-headed guy. He'll find a way to win this,"

Blue looked away, back to the game. "For the sake of your crew, he'd better…" he muttered.

Back on the field, Jae stood, looking at the two dodge-balls in his hands. How was he going to do this? He closed his eyes and tried to focus. Come on, come on…

"Look at him, he can't even think now," a bulky, stupid-sounding voice said. Jae assumed it was Bolt, as he'd already heard the voices of the others.

"He'll go down, just like the rest of his crew, the minute he throws the ball, uwee hee hee," Fredrick said.

"They're such weaklings," Tsu commented smugly. "I mean, if we were facing someone stronger, maybe that bone guy or the Fishman, this might be a little more fun. But these idiots can't even hit us,"

Without looking up, Jae tightened his grip on the dodge-balls.

"Come on, idiot, are you going to throw it or stand there all day?" Tsu continued. Then, she began her dance again. "Nah-nah, nah-nah, you can't hit us!" She stopped and stuck her tongue out at Jae. "Because you're an idiot. Just like your stupid crew!"

And then, with a suddenness that shocked both the players, and the group watching, a ball hit Tsu in the gut with enough force to knock her out of the field. She skidded on the snow several feet before lying still on the ground.

All eyes were turned to the girl for several moments, then, slowly, they returned to Jae. One of the navigator's arms was extended, his body poised as if he'd just thrown, and his head was down. He calmly, without a word, stepped back, standing straight, and held the second ball with two hands for several moments, gripping it tightly.

"If there's one thing I can't stand…" he began, taking a breath to calm himself. He looked up, his blue-violet eyes suddenly uncharacteristically dark and angry, and shifted the ball into one hand. "It's people bringing others down!"

He stepped forward with a cry and threw the second ball. It moved lightning quick though the air, spinning, and curved to hit Bolt in the side of the head. The large man was knocked aside and out of the ring with a cry of surprise.

On the sidelines, the Crescent Dagger's watched in shock. They'd honestly never seen Jae act like this before… it was shocking. Blue had his arms crossed. "Yeah, real level headed, I see…" he muttered sarcastically.

On the opposing side, Zugai was watching with a rather amused expression on his face. So he really can kick some ass. He mused with a smile. Not that he ever doubted Jae's abilities, but he'd never seen the boy fight. He adjusted the uncomfortable kairoseki handcuffs around his wrists and leaned back comfortable against a tree. I've never seen him with that expression… let's see how this ends.

"Uwee hee hee, where's this sudden burst of energy coming form?" Fredrick asked with a grin. A ball was tossed to him and with the flick of a hand, he caught it. A second was thrown to Jae (replacing the two that were outside the ring), and he caught it in both hands, staring at the man opposite him. "This is starting to get exciting. The little weaklings are coming back with a bang, uwe hee hee,"

Jae didn't respond. He shifted position, preparing to throw, and watched Fredrick closely. "Well, I hope you're ready to lose another of your pathetic crew members. There's no way you can win. You're just a little amateur, a wimp. You'll never be able to catch up with my superior devil fruit abilities and hit…" however, before he could finish, the ball hit him, square in the chest.

Like the others, the force of the hit knocked him back and sent him skidding out of the ring into the cold snow. He lay there for a few seconds, just a few feet from the still unmoving Tsu, then sat up. Jae had his arms crossed, staring at him, the dark expression in his eyes gone, and had seemingly returned to his normal self.

He pushed his hair behind his ears and grinned. "Don't you know that nothing good ever comes from monologueing?" he asked.

Cheers broke out all around, coming even from the opposition, and the Crescent Dagger's rushed onto the field. Aya and Faith jumped on Jae, nearly knocking him to the ground, hugging him tightly. "You did it!" they exclaimed excitedly.

"Where the hell did that come form?" Gonzo asked, patting the boy on the back. "I've never seen you act like that. You single handedly beat three of them without even breaking a sweat!"

Jae smiled, a bit embarrassed, and covered his face with his hand. "It was nothing," he said. "I guess I got angry,"

"Well I'm never going to get on your bad side," Chris decided with a grin, slapping Jae a high five in her excitement. Then, she and the others turned their attention back to Leo, who looked absolutely furious at the result. Chris merely smiled and crossed her arms. "You know exactly who we want, 'Gold Lion'," Chris said, emphasizing the nickname with a sarcastic tone.

Leo scowled but nodded to Kairo, who reluctantly unlocked the handcuffs restraining Zugai. The shipwright rubbed his wrists and stepped away from them with a smile. "I'm pretty popular today, aren't I?" he asked good-naturedly. When he was back with his crew, he grinned, putting an arm around Jae's shoulders. "Nice one, buddy!" he congratulated. He ruffled his hair playfully, to which Jae reacted with a jab to his chest (though smiled naturally), and Zugai stepped back, laughing.

"It's not over," Leo declared with a snarl. "There's still one game left…"

"Yeah, I know," Chris said, smiling. She cracked her knuckles and adjusted her hat. "And you can bet I'm ready for it. Are you, kitty cat?"

Leo scowled at the nickname, but turned away from her. "Ready the cannon!" he shouted to his crew.

"Aye!" they all responded, and several of them disappeared into the trees.

Davy Back Fight Scoreboard!

Crescent Dagger: 1

Gold Lion: 1

A/N: Yeah, this is a very predictable arc, but I'm having fun with it! I tried to make this chapter as long as I could without being repetitive (I don't think I succeeded...), but really, there's only so much you can do with a dodge-ball game... You get a ball, you throw it, you're out or your not. Come on! But aside from that, this was going to turn out very different, which is why it took me so long to write it! It was going to be a loss… but that would stretch the arc to long and I didn't want to go through that… So I'm keeping it simple. Maybe in the future, when I'm done with this story I'll post up the reject chapters. Or the reject ideas. Who knows. But I'm going to end this long A/N with a quick request: Review!

SNE121