A/N: Haha, who knew there were that many Bartolomeo fans out there?! I think he was what I was looking forward the most to write about for this arc. Hope you guys enjoy!
Chapter 36 - Block C Battle
Rei went back to the window they were first sitting at and was relieved to find her cap still there. She tucked her red hair back under it and hoped no one had spotted her.
"'Red Ghost' Rei," a voice behind her said and she turned in time to block Cavendish's sword.
His blade pushed against her chains as she held up the ends in front of her. The metal on their weapons shook from the force.
"Cavendish," she gritted through her teeth, "If you fight me, you'll get thrown out of the tournament."
"I don't care," he seethed back, "I want to kill all the rookies who have stolen the spotlight from me."
"How have I stolen the spotlight?" Rei asked incredulously, "I just became a pirate."
Cavendish jumped away and re-raised his sword for another attack. "You were still in the paper."
"I heard you're trying to kill Lucy, Cavendish," interrupted a new voice, "But it seems you have more than one person on your death list."
They turned to see Bartolomeo, with his sharp teeth and his heightened green hair.
"Lucy is not yours to kill," Bartolomeo continued.
"I see, you want to kill him too," Cavendish said, jumping back away from Rei and sizing up the winner of Blcok B.
Bartolomeo laughed, "My connection with him is much deeper than that."
"Hey," Rei said, interjecting into the conversation but not taking her eyes off of Cavendish, "Tell me more about this connection."
Bartolomeo raised an eyebrow at her, "It's none of your business."
"My captain's business is my business," Rei retorted.
"You're captain?!"
"At least you're better at hiding your identity than your captain, 'Red Ghost' Rei," Cavendish said snidely.
"R-R-R-R-R-R-," Bartolomeo started to stutter.
Rei shifted her body so that she formed a triangle between her, Cavendish, and Bartolomeo. She kept her chains out in front of her just in case. "Are you going to try to kill me too, Bartolomeo?"
Cavendish sighed and withdrew his sword. "My fight with you can be settled after the battle, when I win the fruit and return to the spotlight."
Rei looked at Bartolomeo, who showed no signs of attacking. In fact, he seemed to be in some sort of daze. HIs eyes were glazed over and he was smiling with somewhat of a slackjaw.
Out of the corner of her eye, Rei spotted a pink haired female gladiator by the window. Rei had never seen her before and wondered who that person was. She didn't have the physical features of a fighter and her whole demeanor was too gentle for her current surroundings.
"REI-SAMA!" Bartolomeo squealed, finally finding his voice.
Rei was startled but she did not show it. She glared at him in annoyance. His sudden outburst was not only unnecessary but a hindrance. She hoped no one else had heard him and that her identity was still kept safe.
"Hey, Bartolomeo" she snapped, pointing at the sign on her back, "Please call me Raymond."
"Raymond-sama!" Bartolomeo cried, "You know my name! I'm so honored!"
"Huh?"
"I have followed the news stories of the Straw Hat Pirates since I first saw Straw Hat Luffy-senpai-"
"Lucy," Rei quickly interjected, "Please call him Lucy...The less people who know we're here, the better."
"Lucy-senpai," Bartolomeo corrected before babbling on, "I saw him in Loguetown years ago and have been following all the news stories involving the Straw Hats. Alabasta, Enies Lobby, Impel Down, and the fateful Marineford! It was all so fascinating!"
Rei wasn't sure how to react to this man so she stayed silent and let him say his peace.
"I was only a small leader who took control of 150 towns back home, but I've been inspired by Luf-...er...I mean Lucy-senpai's story that I sailed out to sea!" Bartolomeo blurted out with tears streaming down his face, "And when I read the most recent story on Beffi Island and how he managed to convince you, the world's leading tactician, to join his crew, it just furthered my belief that he is the future King of Pirates!"
A sweat fell down Rei's forehead. She was baffled by this man's obsession with the Straw Hats. "I'm honored?"
Bartolomeo grabbed her hands and held it tightly in his, holding it close to his chest. "I will help you in anyway that I can. Please, let me be your slave."
His hands were clammy and twitchy. Rei couldn't help but notice it was not the same strong and sturdy grip that Zoro had or the smooth and soft hands of Sanji.
"Servitude is not necessary," Rei said, jerking her hand away, "But if you want to help, that would be appreciated. Since we're both winners of our blocks, that means Lucy has gained one other ally for the final round."
Bartolomeo nodded, his eyes shining with excitement and hope, "I will be your humble servant."
"That really isn't necessary," Rei repeated, feeling uncomfortable by this man's devotion.
A sudden explosion brought Rei's attention back to the fight and she looked just in time to see Luffy jump out of a big pillar of smoke.
"What happened?" Rei asked Cavendish.
"He went against Ideo," the blonde grumbled.
Rei sensed from his unhappy tone that Luffy was winning. Both her and Bartolomeo went to the edges of the window to look below them. Her eyes widened as her Observational Haki sensed a very powerful attack coming Luffy's way.
"Lucy!" she shouted right before Don Chinjao unleashed his Conqueror's Haki.
"There is only one man I want to fight so get out of my way!" Don Chinjao cried as all the other competitors fell unconscious, while Luffy was unaffected.
Rei's jaw clenched when she noticed that on the other side of the ring, Jean the Bandit, a notorious bounty hunter, was scurrying around the arena collecting the weapons from the unconscious victims of Don Chinjao's Haki. She had never met him in person but she had read plenty of Naval reports on the many escaped pirates from Impel Down he had caught.
"LUCY!" she called out to her captain and pointed at Jean, "KICK THAT BOUNTY HUNTER'S ASS!"
Luffy laughed in response, "Shi-shi-shi-shi. Zoro's not gonna like hearing you say that."
"Zoro-senpai," Bartolomeo squealed at the mention of his name.
"Lucy! Duck!" Rei suddenly cried out in warning.
Ideo struck a punch at Luffy and the Straw Man bent over just in time to avoid it but Ideo's fist connected with the edge of his helmet. He sent it flying off of Luffy's head andinto the air. Jean the Bandit caught it with one hand.
"Hey! Give it back!" Luffy yelled, hurriedly tying his cape around his straw hat to hide it.
"I heard something interesting," Jean exclaimed, "I heard a pirate who's worth 400 million bellis named Straw Hat Luffy has entered the competition. Tetetetetetete."
"Straw Hat Luffy!" Don Chinjao shouted as he charged towards the rubber man but Luffy's eyes were focused on his helmet.
"Give it back, you damn cactus!" he yelled at Jean.
Jean started to fling all the weapons he's collected towards Luffy, who dodged them but lost sight of the bounty hunter.
"Lucy!" Rei called out, "He's collecting more weapons! Be careful!"
A shadow grew over the arena and Luffy noticed what Rei was warning him about. Jean the Bandit was carrying a mountain of weapons he collected around the battlefield and it reached high into the sky. He grinned savagely as he reached for one weapon after another and threw them left and right at the straw hat, hitting the other contenders behind him as well.
"I made so much money in the last two years thanks to you," Jean sneered as his ball of death got smaller and smaller with every weapon he launched at Luffy, "From all the prisoners you freed in Impel Down."
"Idiot," Rei muttered, "Just throwing weapons won't work."
Suddenly, there was a stillness on the battlefield when Luffy stepped aside to reveal that some of the swords Jean threw had plunged into Don Chinjao's belly.
Luffy quickly took his helmet back while Jean was in shock. He was frozen in fear at the menacing figure of Don Chinjao. Luffy leapt to the side and away from Jean to avoid Don Chinjao, who propelled himself forward towards the bounty hunter. Chinjao's head planted firmly into the bandit and sent him flying into the wall and out of the ring.
"Lucy!" Rei called down, "We're running out of time! Hurry up and finish this!"
"Yosh!" Luffy replied back waving his hand back at Rei as he put his helmet back on.
The rubber man squatted down and activated his second gear. His only opponent now was Don Chinjao. The two men launched at each other with incredible force. Both raised an arm charged with Armament Haki and the two fists connected. The shockwave of haki went through the Colosseum knocking out the rest of their opponents and even a few audience members.
Rei's face was stoic as she watched the clash of two Conqueror's Haki users and she smiled while everyone else's jaw dropped. "That's my captain," she said softly but proudly.
She turned around and walked away from the battle.
"You're not going to watch the rest?" Bartolomeo asked in surprise.
"Lucy's going to win. There's no question about it," Rei said calmly without looking back as she waved her hand out to signal a short goodbye, "However, there are other things I need answers to around here and I'm going to find them."
"So..so...SO COOL!" Bartolomeo stammered in awe.
Rei stopped in her tracks and took one last look back at Bartolomeo. She eyed him up and down, assessing just how much she could trust him. He seemed genuine in wanting to help Luffy. She had never met anyone with as much fanboy-like devotion as Bartolomeo.
"Hey, Bartolomeo," she said to him.
"Y-y-yes, Rei-sama?"
Her back was still turned to him but she had craned her neck backwards so she can lock eyes with him.
"You will help Lucy in the finals." It was a statement and not a question.
"Yes," Bartolomeo asserted.
"Okay," she said, turning her face forward and continuing her walk, "I'm counting on you."
She heard an explosion of tears and joyous cries from Bartolomeo, which made her somewhat relieved that she was walking away. Crying was just not something she could handle.
Rei made her way down the winding staircases and corridors until she spotted a pair of Colosseum workers carrying an injured man on the stretcher. She followed them down towards the basement of the Colosseum to the medical treatment waiting area. A mix of injured men from Block A and Block B were sitting along the room. She noticed that Burgess was nowhere in sight.
In the middle of the backwall was a large metal door with the medical sign imprinted on it. Are the medics in there? she wondered.
A smaller door within the metal door opened and one of the workers came out. He held a clipboard and he flipped a page over to find the next name on his list. "Ian from the Aliwan Kingdom."
A man not too far from Rei stood up. He wore a really large iron helmet on his head and it covered the majority of his face. "That's me," he said gruffly.
"Please make your way in," the worker called out to him.
"Wait," Ian said as walked forward, "Another person from my kingdom, Sammy, he hasn't come out yet. Where is he?"
"There's an exit at the other end of the room," the worker said, "Those who are treated do not come back into this one."
Rei had enough experience questioning people to spot a lie and she knew she had just heard one. She narrowed her eyes and followed behind Ian. His large frame blocked her out and the worker did not notice her until Ian went into the room and she stood right in front of him.
"Excuse me," she said to the worker, "I'm Raymond, the winner of Block A. I need to see a medic."
"I'm sorry, I can't let you go in there. Losers only," the worker said, holding up his clipboard as if that would ward her off.
Rei swatted his clipboard away like it was nothing and she stood toe to toe with him with her arms clasped behind her back. "I don't need to go in. I just need him to come out."
"I...I...I can't do that," the worker stammered.
She leaned over and whispered into his ear, "I want answers."
The worker jerked back his head but then he realized that Rei had a dagger pointed at his stomach. She faked a smile and turned to stand by his side. She slid her dagger wielding hand underneath his cape and pointed it at his back. To the others, it just seemed that she had a friendly arm around his waist.
"Oh, you know where the medical supply closet is?" she said loud enough for the other's in the room to hear, "Why don't you show me where it is? I just need bandages anyways."
She put a little pressure on her blade so that it pricked the skin on his back, but not enough to draw blood. The worker gave a small yelp and started to move forward and out of the room. If they looked suspicious, the fighters were too preoccupied with their own injuries to notice.
Rei kept a careful eye out, though, in case another worker stepped through the door to call out for a new patient. As soon as they were out of the waiting area and the door closed behind them, she dragged the man into a dark corner, out of sight. She shoved the worker against the wall and pointed her blade under his chin.
"What goes on in the medical room?" she demanded, "Where do all the losers go?"
"I can't tell you," the worker gasped, "The Donquixote family will kill me if I-"
"I'll kill you if you don't tell me," Rei hissed. She moved her blade closer to his neck to show just how serious she was.
"You won't get away with this," he cried, "The executives will-"
Rei made a small skin deep cut on his neck to silence him and get his attention. "Worry about yourself before you worry about me. If you tell me everything you know, I'll let you go back. You can even go tell Doflamingo himself and have him come for me."
"What?" the man gasped.
"I came here to see him anyways," Rei stated, "It would actually speed up the process if you manage to get him here."
The man gulped and he started to tremble.
"Let's try this again. What are you doing with the losers?" Rei said, pulling her blade back a little to give the man a bit of breathing room.
"I don't know what they do with them," the man answered shakily, "All we're told is to bring the losers into the room one by one. They lie on the medical bed, close their eyes, and…"
"And?"
"And we pull a lever to open up the trap door underneath them."
"Where do they go?"
"Underground. Beneath the Colosseum but that's all I know, I swear! I don't know what happens to them afterwards! That's all Diamante told us."
"Diamante?" Rei asked, "Is he one of the executives?"
"Yes. He's the leader of the Diamante army. He's one of the top officers for Donquixote and he's the Hero of the Colosseum."
"So he's in charge here," Rei said, mostly to herself, "What is his fighting style? Is he a devil fruit user?"
The man nodded. "He ate the Ripple-Ripple fruit. He's a-"
"Flag human," Rei finished, "What about the other officers under Doflamingo? Do you know about Trebol and Sugar?"
"I don't know them," the man admitted, "I work in the Colosseum so I only know about the officers in the Diamante Army."
"Who are they?" Rei demanded.
"Lao G, Senor Pink, Machvise, and Dellinger are the top officers under Diamante. You'll be fighting them in the final tournament for the Flare-Flare fruit. They win 100% of their fights. You don't stand a chance."
"I never expected to win this tournament," Rei said, catching the man off guard, "So maybe I'll see you back here when all of this is over."
They overheard footsteps coming towards them and Rei quickly flattened herself against the wall as more medical attendants rushed past them.
"Hurry! Block C battle has ended," one of them said.
Luffy! Rei thought to herself. She released her hold on her captive but knocked him unconscious by using the hilt of her dagger. She waited for the coast to be clear before coming out of their hiding spot and running in the opposite direction.