Ch. 37- Supreme Executive Diamante
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Jupiter, Monkey D. Aika, Kumi, Rita, and Carla © Me
"Ladies and gentleman!" Gyatts shouted. "Are…you…READY~?!"
"YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH~!" the crowd roared.
In the center of the arena, there stood "Lucy", "Butch", Rebecca, Burgess, Bartolomeo…and standing in the middle of all of them are Diamante and Rita.
"Between the winners of all four competition blocks and Mr. Diamante and Rita themselves…and to our valorous champion will go the grand prize!"
"WEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAW~!" laughed Burgess.
"Go to hell, you human scum!" Bartolomeo shouted, flipping off the audience.
"YOU got to hell, Bartolomeo!" shouted a man in the stands.
As Bartolomeo continue to rile up the crowd, Rita glanced over at "Butch" and blinked in confusion.
'Hold it,' she thought. 'That's not White Wolf…who is that?'
"What's the matter, kitty?" asked "Butch". "Cat got your tongue?"
Rita growled viciously at him, causing him to snicker.
"And here is our prize!" exclaimed Gyatts. "The Logia Devil Fruit, strongest of the three types…the Flame-Flame Fruit!"
"WEEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAW~!" laughed Burgess. "And it's all mine!"
'Jesus Burgess of the Blackbeard Pirates, huh?' thought "Lucy". 'This is gonna be harder than I thought.' He then smirked. 'Although I do enjoy a challenge.'
'Who is that guy?' thought Rebecca. 'I know for a fact that he isn't Lucy.'
"HEY!"
Everyone looked to see three men charging into the ring: a few fighters from Block D.
"Stop this match!"
"Pull Rebecca out of the ring!"
"We demand a rematch! You don't expect us accept that bullshit ending, do you?!"
"Uh-oh…" Rebecca muttered.
"It appears we have some controversy!" said Gyatts.
"Rebecca!" shouted a fighter with spike boxing gloves. "We'd never lose to a scrawny-ass bitch like you! Let's settle this, right now!"
The audience cried out in agreement.
"Yeah! That's more like it!"
"Kill her!"
Rebecca sneered as she brandished her sword, but just as she was about to engage them, Diamante suddenly got in her way.
"That's enough, you howling fools," said Diamante.
"Huh?!" questioned a gladiator with a mace. "Hey, move it!"
"The results speak for themselves," said Diamante. "Learn when to fold…and quit trying to ruin my show!"
"Huh?!" muttered a pirate captain. "What are you-"
"Come on," Diamante said, holding up his cape. "Come right here."
"Grr…!" the gladiator growled. "Don't treat us like charging bulls!"
THWAM! Somehow…they ended up slamming into Diamante's cape, as if it were a solid wall!
"What the fuck?!" Bartolomeo asked, confused.
"This cape of mine ripples like a flag in the breeze," Diamante started, "but really…it's made of hard steel! I'm a flag man that ate the Ripple-Ripple Fruit! Anything I touch will ripple like a simple cloth, no matter the qualities!"
"Urgh…!" the fighters groaned.
"Rita…" Diamante commanded, and without uttering a single word, Rita roared as she lunged at the three, her fangs clamping down on the pirate's arm. He screamed in agony as he felt the bones in his arm shatter, but then, the saber tooth tiger quickly threw him against the ground and then delivered a crushing bite to the man's head…and soon, his screams were silenced as blood gushed from the wound. "Lucy", "Butch", Rebecca, and even Bartolomeo seemed shocked at what they had just seen.
"That cat's a real beast…!" "Lucy" whispered.
As Rita raised her head and licked her blood-stained lips, the audience burst out into cheers, once more.
"All right, Rita!"
"Next time, give one of those bites to Rebecca!"
"And there it is!" shouted Gyatts. "The reason why Rita is often called 'The Executioner'! Her ferocity and savagery are equal to that of the Fighting Fish! And once she has gotten her taste of blood, she won't stop until her thirst is quenched!"
As Gyatts said this, Rita turned to the other two fighters from Block D, who both screamed as they turned to run. However, Rita grabbed the dead body of her latest victim and threw it towards them. FWUMP! The corpse fell on top of, oozing blood all over them.
"I'd get that guy off of you guys, if I were you," said Diamante. "You see, the finals match has its own special Fighting Fish…and they're fine-tune to the scent of blood."
As soon as he said this, the two fighters spotted a shadow jumping out from the water, and before they could even scream, KRRUUUUUUUNCH! The iron bridge that led between the inside of the coliseum and the arena by a giant Fighting Fish with the number 06 tattooed on its forehead. The two remaining fighters fell down into the water…where they were soon devoured.
Despite this, the crowd cheered even more.
"There it is!" Diamante shouted while holding a microphone. "These Fighting Fish are a class above what we've seen thus far! Did you see that deadly charge, folks?! These vicious fish will even lash out at the fighters in the ring! They follow no rules! These are the bosses, the alpha males of every school of Fighting Fish, and on one of their backs lies the tournament's prize, the Flame-Flame Fruit!"
In the water, chained to the back of a Fighting Fish with the number 01 tattooed on his forehead…was a chest, and in that chest is the Flame-Flame Fruit.
"The rules are simple: seize that fruit!" Diamante exclaimed. "Whomever is the last one standing is the winner!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!" the crowd cheered.
"And now, let the finals begin!" Gyatts declared. "It's a 5-man and 2-beast battle blow-out with the heroes, Diamante and Rita! A free-for-all for a Devil Fruit, a death match with Fighting Fish!"
CLANG!
"AND THERE'S THE BELL!"
With that…the finals had begun.
XXX
Meanwhile, at the outer tower of the palace outskirts, Luffy's group has made it to the op.
"We're here," said Violet.
"Is this the entrance to the palace- MMPH!" Luffy started, but Blizzard covered his mouth.
"Luffy, would it KILL YOU to be quiet?!" the wolf-dog asked, softly.
"My bad," Luffy said, his voice muffled.
"Silly Big Brother," Aika said.
Violet peered around a corner and saw several guards, standing in front of a door with Doflamingo's insignia on it.
"Don't let the guards see you," whispered Violet. "There's another secret entrance into the outer tower. I can take you to it. If we raise trouble with and the executives are called, there will be no recourse! The one called Pica is the most troublesome. If he finds, we won't even see Doflamingo."
"I see," said Kin'emon. "Umm…by the way, where is Luffy-dono?"
"Uh…I found him," said Wicca, pointing at the door.
"GUM-GUUUUUUUUM…!"
"W-wait, Big Brother! Kumi and I are still in this costume!"
YIPE!
"Hey! What the hell is with that Koi Fish?!"
"Oh, no," Zoro muttered. "Not again."
"GIANT PISTOL~!"
KATHOOOM! Luffy, being…well, Luffy, used his gigantic fist to punch right through the door!
"WHAT IS HE DOING?!" Zoro, Blizzard, Kin'emon, Wicca, and Violet questioned.
"Hey, guys!" Luffy called. "I opened it now! We can go on in!"
"WE WERE SUPPOSED TO SNEAK IN, YOU MORON!" Blizzard roared. "WHAT'S WORSE, YOU PUT AIKA AND KUMI IN DANGER WITH THAT STUNT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"
"Oh, no!" Violet cried. "Well…it seems we have no choice! Let's go! At this point, using the entrance is faster!"
"Does this mean I can take this stupid thing off, now?" Luffy asked, taking off his costume.
"What does it matter?!" Violet asked. "You're doing it, anyway!"
"Now, now, calm down!" Kin'emon urged as he, Zoro, and Blizzard followed him.
Once Luffy shed his costume, he dropped it on the ground.
"Hey!" Aika cried as she and Kumi fumbled around inside until they came out of the koi's mouth. "Wait for us!"
With that, Aika shifted into her Wolf Form before she and Kumi followed the other. As they did, one of the guards groaned as he woke up.
"Hold it…that was…!" he muttered.
XXX
In the palace Suit Chamber…
"This is a report from the entrance of the outer tower! We have an intruder: it's Straw Hat Luffy and White Wolf Blizzard!"
"…What?" Doflamingo asked in confusion before he looked at the screen and saw "Lucy" and "Butch", just barely dodging a Fighting Fish in the coliseum.
"The Fighting Fish flies through the air," Gyatts announced, "but Lucy and Butch leaps aside with ease! They're certainly nimble!"
"…What hell is he babbling about?" Doflamingo asked…actually sounding surprised.
Nearby, Gladius, now wearing a helmet on his head, and Baby-5, glanced at each other, almost worriedly.
"That has to be a mistake," Doflamingo said. "Straw Hat and White Wolf are posing as Lucy and Butch in the coliseum, right now…shouldn't they?!"
"This is the B-2 Tower Cafeteria entrance! It's Straw Hat Luffy and White Wolf Blizzard! Pirate Hunter Zoro is with them, too…and even Lady Violet! Also…a couple of pups, too!"
XXX
At the cafeteria entrance, Luffy had just kicked a guard in the face…while eating a slice of pizza.
"Mmm…good stuff!" he said.
"The cookies aren't too bad, either!" Aika said, eating cookies while sitting on Blizzard's back.
SLASH! Zoro, now out of his cat costume, cut down a guard while eating a rice ball.
XXX
Doflamingo gritted his teeth as he looked back at the screen, watching the fight at the coliseum.
"Then tell me," he started, "WHO THE FUCK ARE THOSE TWO IN THE COLISEUM?! WHAT THE FUCK'S GOING ON?!"
(A/N: How's your foot tasting, Mingo? XD)
XXX
Concurrently, on the elevator between the trading port and the palace…
"HWADAA~!"
CRUNCH! The Thunder Soldier was suddenly punched in the head by Lao G of the Diamante Army.
"Captain!" cried Cub, in his Rhinoceros Beetle form. "Why you! You'll pay for this!"
Just as the Tontatta Warrior was about to attack Lao G, the old man put on a pair of glasses before he smacked him away, just as he was inches away from his face!
"Not good!" cried a Tontatta Dwarf. "If only we'd known there'd be an executive on this elevator!"
"Fwafwafwa!" Lao G laughed. "You fools! I received an order to protect the entrance to the Toy House! So, I waited at the entrance to the underground port, and then I rode on the elevator again! Meaning…I Got off on the wrong floor the first time! G!" He then formed the letter G with his hands. "You won't come close to the palace, intruders!"
"Urgh…!" the Thunder Soldier groaned as he stood up. "You're wrong…we're going, no matter what."
XXX
Back at the palace…
"They're going up Outer Tower B-1!" cried a guard.
"Hey, Violet!" Luffy called, running down a corridor with Violet, Zoro, Blizzard, Aika, and Kumi. "Which way do we go, now?!"
"We go left!" Violet answered.
"Got it!" Zoro said…as he ran off to the right.
"Zoro!" Aika cried. "Why are you going that way?!"
"GAH!" Zoro cried as he followed Luffy and the others until they ran into an empty hallway.
"It's just another empty hallway!" Luffy said. "Just wait, Mingo! I'm gonna kick your ass and save Traffy!"
But then, the floor started to rumble and shake…in fact, the whole corridor shook!
"Whoa!" Zoro cried as he stumbled a bit. "What's going on?!"
"What's with that rumbling?!" Blizzard asked.
Aika and Kumi both whimpered, worriedly, hiding behind Luffy, who had his hands over his stomach.
"It's too loud to be my tummy," the Straw Hat Captain said.
"Don't tell me…!" Violet whispered.
Suddenly, a giant figure formed out of the wall…completely made of stone!
"What the hell is that?!" Luffy questioned.
"It's huge!" Blizzard cried.
"B-B-Big Brother…!" Aika stammered. "I'm scared!"
"I think I just piddled a little!" Kumi exclaimed, shivering fearfully.
"A stone monster?!" Zoro asked.
"Oh, no…!" Violet whispered, horrified. "It's Pica!"
The stone giant loomed over the group, menacingly, silently glaring at them before reaching down to grab them!
TO BE CONTINUED…
Review, please!