Lunch passed menially without much to report. The Straw Hats kept themselves well away from the Foxy Pirates to strategize further ahead, wondering what sort of foe Foxy would pit against Usopp for the relay race - and the crew had to let Luffy know that if they did a relay race, they would need someone to pass the baton off to. "Well, that's not bad! We all gotta pull our weight," Usopp said in reluctance for an entire challenge to rest on his shoulders.
"Maybe if Sanji hadn't just been scalped, but you two are our fastest. We need to play this smart," Luffy argued, shoveling food into his mouth. He was always defending himself as "conserving energy" for the next challenge despite not being up for any part of the Davy Back until the following day.
"Any of us three could probably do fine. Maybe a relay race is the way to go," Zoro suggested, meaning himself, Nami, and Luffy.
"No. I'm not taking any more chances. No one on Foxy's crew is as fast as Usopp," Luffy explained with a wide smile. "See, Usopp used to be a coward. But he's still just as fast at running today as he was when I first met him!"
Usopp slouched over his plate, sighing. "Gee, thanks." At least he doesn't still think I'm a coward, he thought, simultaneously wondering why a strong man like him with such lofty pirate goals would want such a no-name nothing like Usopp as a First Mate. That was something like what Zoro's stare told him as they made eye contact briefly over their plates. So what he knew my dad. I'm not helping anything.
"Sanji, m'boy! Come join up with my crew. Don't fraternize with the enemy," Foxy called to the Straw Hats, beckoning Sanji over. Sanji grumbled and made to make no move but Foxy's expression hardened and he placed his hands expectantly on his hips. Porche, Capote, and Itomimizu taunted Sanji from afar, telling him to follow the captain's orders. Foxy only looked to be getting more ornery as Sanji furthered his disobedience.
"You should go, Sanji," Luffy said. "It won't be for long, but you're part of Foxy's crew now. I'll get you back, though - and we'll get ourselves either a doctor or a carpenter from Foxy's crew!" He looked around at the other Straw Hats around their meager campfire; realization dawned on their faces one by one. "I was hoping to get both and a musician from us, but clearly we're not dealing with fair fighters. We'll at least get one - and I promise I won't pick the musician!"
Gaimon began to laugh as he finished his plate, tossing Foxy's fine china into the fire where it broke against the crackling firewood. "Alright! Go, Cap. That's a good strategy by my books."
Zoro chuckled and shook his head. "Shouldn't have underestimated you. But we all shouldn't have underestimated Stubby over there," he said, gesturing toward Foxy. He made eye contact with Sanji and teased him: "You should go, though. Your captain needs you."
"Hardy-freakin'-har," Sanji said as he rose. "I hate this. There's no one on that crew I want to hang out with." Even standing, he found he couldn't just depart to go fraternize with a completely strange crew to him.
Luffy and Usopp stood, each grabbing hold of Sanji's shoulder. "Don't worry, Sanji! We're getting you back. I mean it," Luffy said, and Usopp nodded in agreement to emphasize the point. Sanji knew it even without having the verbal confirmation. But hearing it made him able to nod back at them with a sure smile even despite his ridiculous eye-mask, and he turned to join the Foxy Pirates knowing that by this evening, he'd be back on the Going Merry.
Sanji wandered around the campfires, wondering who he would join. It would obviously have to be at least one, if not seven, pretty women. Yet he found few of them around Foxy's crew, despite them seeming so prevalent when Zoro had been undressed. He scowled at the thought until he reached the edge of the main campsite near the fighting ring where there was a smaller fire than the one the Straw Hats huddled around. There was just one woman, sitting in an uncharacteristic sunchair as if she were tanning, reading a book titled "The Rainbow Mist" propped against her knees.
Sanji walked over to her as he recognized her as the stranger who had spoke premonitorially to them twice already, though it wasn't such a feeling that propelling him toward her: It was the obvious beauty lying just under the surface of her disgusting Foxy mask. Sanji came by her fire, and her eyes drifted to his as he kneeled by her fire, warming his bare hands. He nodded to Robin. "Hi. I've become a part of your crew, I believe. Though not for long."
Robin thumbed her book to keep her place but shut it and stared at Sanji with the same cocky grin she wore whenever she'd spoken to the younger kids. "Seems like it. Welcome, I guess. It's nothing so glamorous as our captain says."
Sanji laughed. "I take it you're one of the newbies."
Robin shook her head. "I've sailed with Foxy for a while now. I was with another crew before, but the idiot captain did a Davy Back with him even though he knew who Foxy was and his reputation for a cheaty game. Foxy thought I was sexy, so now here I am." She laughed aloud.
"Disgusting sexual harrasser," Sanji muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Foxy by the main campfire.
"Not really, but he is disgusting," Robin agreed.
Sanji sighed. "You never told me your name. I'm Sanji."
"I know. I'm Robin," she replied, getting back to her book.
Sanji hesitated to continue as he saw her go back to reading but thought to reply, "So, Robin, what's your favorite season?" He stared at her expectantly, but she would not reply in the rest of the hour they spent together during the lunch break.
Before too long, the crews were reassembled by the fighting ring, their food well and digested and a few of the folks' day drinking already underway, including Zoro who felt he had earned it from the stolen victory at his fingertips from earlier. He made sure to drink as much of the Foxy Pirates' booze, as Capote seemed to be following him around, taunting him with defeat over and over again as the lunch break wore on into the second event of the day.
"Gather round, gather round! We're commencing the second challenge of our Davy Back with the Straw Hat Pirates, folks!" Itomimizu chanted as he circled the tent city once again. "We await to hear of Straw Hat Luffy's idea for a challenge yet! Gather round, gather round!" Chuchun cooed out, overly excited himself.
Foxy and his officers sauntered over to the Straw Hats. Hamburg alone seemed despondent, unable to sit comfortably as his hands twiddled away at themselves. Foxy took the center stage before the Straw Hats could inquire about Hamburg's well being and said, "Well, here we are! Enough secrecy, Straw Hat! What's our afternoon's challenge?"
Luffy planted his hands on his hips and made a wide stance to frame off against the Foxy Pirates, with Usopp, Nami, Zoro, and Gaimon framing his left and right on either side. "A race! No relay! Choose your fastest runner, cause I've already got mine!"
Foxy and his crew burst into laughter of those who heard it, and the word spread across the crowd who had not until almost the entire mass of audience were laughing at Luffy's challenge idea. Foxy went so far as to wipe tears from his eyes before saying, "Well, alright! I can get behind something like that! Rather simple, but I like it!"
"My champion is Usopp!" Luffy cried as he grabbed Usopp by the shoulder and pulled him in tight around the neck, nodding his head with a firm frown on his face. "And they have to race naked!" Luffy suddenly tossed in as if that would make things more official.
"No, wait, I didn't agree to that!" Usopp cried out.
Foxy smacked his lips as if he just ate something sour and shook his head anyway. "No one wants that. Clothed they will be!" Foxy spread his arms wide for Porche, who stepped forward. "Surely it's no secret to anyone who I nominate - our illustrious Porche! With that Longleg blood flowing through her, she'll ace this race in no time!"
Luffy stuck his tongue out, annoyed that Foxy had a natural pick for such a challenge. "No she won't! She sucks compared to Usopp!"
This only set the Foxy Pirates to greater laughter around Sanji, who was still at least standing with Robin though he knew little about her. Sanji looked at his new crewmates who laughed at his old captain and gritted his teeth. "I wanna pummel them," he confided to Robin.
"They're not worth it now, but maybe you should have led with that," she said sardonically.
"You know, you still haven't told me why we seem to be in such bad shape against these guys," Sanji said, that being the only expression of annoyance he'd ever given to a woman before. He pulled out a cigarette to suck on so at least something about this afternoon was enjoyable for him.
"Foxy has a Devil Fruit, a really good one," Robin explained simply while she watched Luffy verbally spar with Foxy, wanting to readjust the rules to give the Straw Hats whatever advantage they could when it came to cheating - not understanding whatsoever that cheating is the goal, and Foxy would never balk from cheating at a Davy Back. "Say, what's the deal with your captain?"
"A Devil Fruit?! What is it?" Sanji asked Robin.
"I'm not fully sure," Robin responded. "He's used it against many people that I've seen but I can't tell what it's full powers are. All I can tell is, it renders the user totally useless for thirty seconds. Totally useless," she enunciated, looking at Sanji sideways. "Monkey D. Luffy. What kind of a name is that?"
Sanji shrugged, still soaking in this strange information about a Devil Fruit that Foxy possesses. Not good, not good at all. Who knows what it could be? The God God Fruit?! he thought frantically. "I don't know, it's just his name."
The same name as that of the greatest Navy officer ever? Robin thought derisively as the racetrack had been laid out from this shore to the far side of the island and back again for the racers to run across. The snow was left on the ground; that would be a natural obstacle they would be up against. At the least, Usopp and Porche were allowed their clothes, and they mounted up at the one spot cleared away to mark a definite starting point to the track.
"Okay, Porche! Uslopp!" Foxy called to the champions of the second challenge, raising his arm up high to officiate the race. "On my mark, you'll both begin! Give me a signal when you're ready?" Porche nodded almost immediately.
Usopp took a second to look at the Straw Hats, realizing any of them were on the line if he failed; he looked at Sanji, knowing the same stood for him. This is too much! There's too much at risk here, I can't do something like this! But he forced himself to make eye contact with Porche, and although she glared him down from the corner of her eye, it spurred Usopp on rather than make him balk. He found it ridiculous they were in racing pose to begin a race between one another. He remembered doing this in grade school, and he'd never lost at a race once! He hadn't been outrun by anyone since as long as he could remember.
"Go!" Foxy yelled, and the two pirates took off like a light. Foxy's hair was ruffled as Usopp and Porche ran past him on either side, and he swiveled to keep his eyes on the racers as they moved down the track, where they would reach the opposite end of the island, turn back, and finish the race at the start point.
Usopp was transported back to being a kid, fast on his feet, once more, and even back to pretending like pirates had just invaded his island before he came back to reality. There was nothing ahead of him but snow, nothing behind him but a foe that could mean losing a friend. This was far grander than just grade school or simple pranks. My friends are on the line!
But right after the panic set in, the relief set in harder. He was outpacing Porche two to one! For every two steps Usopp took, it felt like Porche receded by three. Before too much longer, he was nearing the end of the island, where he would have to turn and double back for start to finish. Amazing! Luffy, you're a damn genius! We should just trust you more!
Porche was nearly crapping herself, wondering how someone could be stronger than a human with Longleg blood, but she was more focused on Usopp ahead. Captain Foxy will have something up his sleeve! Porche thought comfortingly, figuring she already knew what such a move could be. That was the only comfort she could take as she watched Usopp fifty paces in front of her hit the end of the track and turn back for the return trip. Dammit!
Foxy, too, felt the panic that Porche did, and realized he needed to think of some contingency plan faster than he thought. I thought this was gonna be one of the legitimate wins! Foxy thought, but he aimed his hands and fingers into a triangle right at Usopp. Too far . . . let him get closer . . .
Hamburg noticed, gritting his teeth and hoping something might strike Captain Foxy to not use his Devil Fruit against the Straw Hats. Big Pan's intervention was bad enough, but this is the deciding factor every time! Hamburg thought in a panic, his breath becoming far more rapid as he stood among the officers and Captain Foxy. None of his thoughts could change the fact that Foxy jolted and an invisible beam shot out, hitting Usopp, and freezing him seemingly in midair.
Usopp felt his body still moving, but it was slow as can be, even though both his feet were off the ground. My momentum is still there! My speed is gone, though, Usopp rationalized, wishing his body could react to his movements because he wanted to scream. It felt like trudging through pudding, but your body was the pudding.
Worse than any of the discomfort Usopp was feeling out of nowhere was the sight of Porche running past him at full speed toward the finish line. Usopp counted the seconds. Ten! Eleven! Twelve!
This was torture, and he could even hear his crewmates and Sanji screaming, "What are you doing?! How are you doing that?! Run, Usopp!" from either side. Usopp wanted to break free of his limbs; it felt like sleep paralysis, which he got from time to time. There was no chance of breaking free from whatever this was, though. A Devil Fruit?! Usopp wondered.
"This is it, isn't it?" Sanji asked Robin.
"Yes, it is," she replied simply.
And Porche crossed the finish line. Foxy laughed aloud and said, "What happened to your First Mate there, Captain Luffy? Seems he took the freeze frame!" Again, the majority of Foxy's Pirates laughed along with him, creating this echo chamber and terrifying surround sound playing out around the five Straw Hats left. The hardest fact to face was that in a few moments, they would become four.
Thirty! Usopp thought and suddenly he sprang free from whatever invisible trap he'd been snared in, falling to the ground in a somersault unconsenting to himself. He landed facedown, staring ahead at the crew he had just failed. His body trembled with rage to behold Foxy laughing, and at seeing Hamburg wringing his hands, not joining in with his own crew's revelry, Usopp suddenly thought, That Silver Foxy is a silver bastard!
"That makes our first half of the Davy Back over and two matches in favor of myself!" Foxy declared, bowing low and wide as he said so. "And one more crewmate to add to my four hundred and one." His smile was devious; it sickened the Straw Hats.
"You know you cheated! I could feel some power coming over me!" Usopp bellowed as he stomped toward the main throng of players, swiping the snow from his clothes and head every which way. He jammed a finger at Foxy. "Come off it! Was that a Devil Fruit?"
"Usopp!" Luffy cried out, shaking his head as he made eye contact with his First Mate. "We lost, unfortunately."
"Quite the gracious pirate, at least," Foxy said with another sauntering bow to Luffy. "Do you mind if I pick my newest crewmate, my friend?"
Luffy gritted his teeth and tilted his head to where the brim of his straw hat shielded his eyes from the sun. "Go ahead."
"Luffy! This can't be real!" Nami exclaimed as she took a hesitating step back. This felt like a nightmare that had spiraled out of control, and now, there was some invisible hand ready to snatch any of them up from the air and deposit them into a pit of ice.
Foxy pointed at the crewmate he wanted. "You're strong! I like you! I could use stronger crewmates!"
And Zoro took a deep breath, staring down at Foxy's finger and walked toward him without a hesitating step. "So long, you guys," he said begrudgingly as he joined the Foxy Pirates, taking the mask from Foxy expectantly and planting it on his face. His forehead vein bulged through it.
"No! I can't believe this!" Gaimon cried out, weeping open tears. "We were just getting started! You can't take them from us!"
"Oh, but I'm afraid I have, my friend," Foxy declared to Gaimon and the other Straw Hats openly, bowing one more time. "You see, I'm the master of Davy Backs! I have never lost once in my life. I'm sorry for having swindled you, but you see, you have a treasure on your crew I desperately want!"
The four Straw Hats remaining furrowed their brows, looking between one another to question who it could be. Foxy scoffed and shook his head with a loud, fake laugh. "It's you, Straw Hat! Of course I know who you are! And what an addition it would be for a major power from the South Blue to capture the highest power from the East Blue!" Foxy grinned at Luffy. "You just can't choose the captain in the first two rounds, or else I'd have ended this hours ago."
"Me?!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing a finger at himself. "Well, then we could have just forgotten all this and dueled at the very start! I'd have said we could do our whole crew for whole crew to just do the captain's duel."
Foxy laughed, shaking his head and clapping a hand on Luffy's shoulder reassuringly. "My friend, and trust me when I call you that, I mean it when I say that would knock the sails completely out of the entire meaning of a Davy Back."
Nami took a few demanding steps forward, right into Luffy and Foxy's faces but rounding on Foxy in particular. "You aren't knocking the sails out with your cheating?!" she exclaimed, growling the entire time.
Foxy stared up at her with sudden ferocity, but didn't make a move. "Cheating is piracy, my dear," Foxy told her. "This is what piracy is all about - the great cheat against the world." Foxy began laughing maniacally, shaking back and forth as he gripped his torso.
Luffy growled and stepped away from Foxy, finding Zoro and Sanji in the crowd of the Foxy Pirates. "You guys! Don't worry! I'll think of something! Your dreams aren't over!" he called out to them both.
Yeah, right, Zoro thought. There's only one person left for grabs. And Luffy had been sailing with Sanji longer.
"You go, Luffy," Sanji called to his real captain with a weak fist raised in the air. He nodded to Luffy. "I understand."
Luffy took a deep breath and turned his back to the entire spectacle, downcast at the fact that he had suddenly lost two of his crewmates in the span of eight hours. His eyes were shadowed by the brim of his straw hat as he walked past Usopp, Nami, and Gaimon. "Let's head back to the Going Merry to regroup."
"Okay," Usopp said after a pensive moment, though the other two didn't respond. Each were stuck in shock as they followed Luffy back to their own ship. They spared Sanji and Zoro a glance, waving to them and nodding reassuringly. And though the two men returned the nods, neither felt the hope of returning to the Straw Hats anytime soon.
Luffy led the way back into the Going Merry's cabin, stomping around the main dining area with deep breaths as Usopp shot the door behind everyone. He studied Luffy hard; it felt strange to not have Sanji aboard the ship. Beyond a couple days at sea, the Merry had never been stocked with less than three people, but now there were four, quickly verging on three once more. Foxy wants Luffy . . . In which case, we could still be the Straw Hat Pirates, and maybe I could commandeer the Merry, chase after the Foxy Pirates, amass ourselves more, and liberate all three of them, Usopp thought, wanting to do right by Luffy as his second in command, defend his friend Sanji, and prove Zoro wrong.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Gaimon asked unassumingly, genuinely wanting to formulate a strategy with his new crew. He felt his heart breaking all over again to think of these newcomers in his life suddenly becoming splintered by Foxy.
"We only have the captain's duel ahead of us," Nami said realistically. "There's only one option to win a crewmate."
"Or we could just tarnish his flag and humiliate him. We all know Luffy's tougher than this Foxy guy," Usopp said, trying to channel somewhere between Sanji and Zoro as he was the first to take a seat at the table, looking around at the others on the Straw Hat crew.
"And then what, genius? Sanji and Zoro'll both be on Foxy's crew at that point," Nami iterated as she sat and crossed her arms. "The truth of the matter is . . . we're at a real impasse. It doesn't look like either of them are going to be sailing back with us at this rate, but . . ." She shut her eyes as a migraine hit the spot behind her eyes, making her wince and massage the bridge of her nose.
"But what?" Gaimon said, somewhat annoyed as he heard Luffy rummaging around in the refrigerator casually behind them.
"But best case scenario, we'll only be returning one of our mates to us, unless we want an all out brawl against four hundred seasoned sailors and a few buffoons who just happened to end up leading them," Nami said through her headache, leaning on the table with her head resting on her arms. "It's an impossible choice."
Even Usopp felt he could not pick between the two; logically, he knew he would pick Sanji in a heartbeat and leave Zoro behind at this point if such a decision came up. But . . . As he thought about things more, he found he was glad to not be the one to make such an impossible decision. At first, he was annoyed too at Luffy's casual snacking, but wondered if perhaps it was a stress response. People do all sorts of strange things when they're stressed, Usopp thought, wondering about the cigars his mom used to smoke.
"Luffy, what say you?" Usopp asked, kindly and patient even as Nami and Gaimon were frustrated with his behavior in the face of almost certain devastation to their crew. We won't be halved before we've even gotten started!
To affirm Usopp's thought without realizing it, Luffy swallowed his humongous bite of make-it-in-your-mouth sandwich, getting the parts ready for his next bite as he replied, "Guys, don't worry. I've got things tomorrow. I'm not just getting Sanji and Zoro back - I'm gonna get us a doctor or a carpenter."
Nami groaned and let her head fall back to her arms on the table as Gaimon turned to face Luffy fully. "Luffy, what are you saying? The Davy Back's almost over - there's only one crewmate left to regain. We're talking about choosing between Sanji and Zoro here!" he said, totally exasperated. In his mind, he anticipated Luffy quickly picking Sanji in tomorrow's bout after what Zoro had done to Mr. 7 on Gaimon's island.
Nami could not pick between the two of them if she was forced at gunpoint. Her headache was getting worse and she figured she needed sleep, but in her delirium, she gave a chuckle at least, rising and passing Luffy. She told him, "Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I might not believe you," she said as she entered the women's quarters that were currently hers alone.
"Maybe that's the best call," Gaimon said, considering sleep himself but wondering if his nerves would allow it. He rubbed the sweat from his brow. "Just some sleep . . . maybe it's a dream already!"
"Hey, Luffy, let me get a bite of that," Usopp said casually as he rose, walking over to join his captain and creating some sandwich in his mouth alongside Luffy. He leaned on the counter and stared at Luffy while Gaimon watched them both. "I don't know what kind of Devil Fruit he was using, but it had me completely incapacitated."
"I could tell," Luffy replied. "I'll keep an eye out in our fight tomorrow. But it's his only shot, cause without it, I'd never lose to this guy."
"So you're saying you could lose?" Usopp asked, totally teasing and not believing it for a moment as he made another bite.
Luffy chuckled and swallowed a big sandwich bite. "Nope! Not unless Foxy gets the worst night's sleep. Oh," he said cheekily as he eyed Gaimon from the corner of his eyes. "And if Gaimon brings along his lucky pistol, aye?"
Gaimon stared and studied Luffy, wondering where this newfound ill-faith in his captain was warranted when Usopp was so calm here. He's known him the longest, Gaimon remembered and walked forward. "Let me get some," he said, gesturing toward the food. Luffy handed him some bread, meat, and cheese, and Gaimon took it, taking bites as he said, "What have you got planned, Luffy?"
"Can't tell you! I don't wanna jinx it," Luffy said with a giggle as the three of them snacked for another ten minutes before realizing Sanji would be furious once he was back on the Merry for how much they'd eaten, and decided to call it a night unusually early for the Straw Hats.
"Co-ed bunking?" Sanji said as he and Zoro entered their quarters on board the Sexy Foxy ahead of most of the other members of their new crew, who had started partying onshore of Snowy Plains in light of their crew's "stunning victory" over the Straw Hats. Chief MVPs of the night were not only Porche and Capote, "winners" of their bouts, but Captain Foxy himself. Right now, the ex-Straw Hats could hear them giving Big Pan an honorary mention as they studied the massive quartering that house a third of Foxy's men. There were women and men here already; the elderly who had no cause for piracy or partying; people still not accustomed to the Foxy Pirates; or just folks with plain early bedtimes.
In Sanji and Zoro's case, it was certainly a case of wanting nothing to do with Foxy and his crew. Both had considered asking Foxy if they might sleep on the Merry, since it might be their last night with their friends, but even if they didn't feel like they already knew the answer, their pride was greater in standing in the way of asking. They figured getting a good night's sleep and trying to forget about the events of the day through unconsciousness was best - one of their few moments of alliance.
Even now, it was like their grudge was totally set aside from one another as they looked at where to sleep. There were cots and hammocks to pick from that looked bare enough - and a considerable number of them were around the bunk in the corner, where laid Nico Robin in her hammock, swinging gently as she read The Rainbow Mist.
"Oh, it's you!" Sanji called, waving over and walking toward her. Zoro scowled as Sanji walked toward the woman, telling him over his shoulder, "Come on! We can bunk with Robin." Zoro remembered why he disliked the cook suddenly but he begrudgingly followed him toward the woman who had been snarky and mysterious by his estimation thus far.
"Hello," Robin said as politely as she could manage, still managing to remain quite cold as she barely smiled at Sanji and Zoro. The former beamed stupidly down at her as they stood by her hammock. "These beds are available, if you must. But please, I must read." She looked back at her book.
Sanji and Zoro shared a glance in which the swordsman rolled his eyes, groaning as he crawled into the top bunk in the double decker set just in front of Robin's bed. Sanji looked back at Robin, struggling for words. "Thanks for the warm welcome," he came up with, chuckling. And with that, he obliged Robin's request and laid in the bunk below Zoro after taking his jacket off, quickly falling asleep.
Robin waited until she heard him snoring and thumbed her book shut as she lifted herself from bed, double checking to make sure Sanji was fast asleep. She then stood on tip toe and looked into the hammock above at Zoro. His eyes stared right back.
Robin didn't balk from the cold, hard stare, but grinned instead. "Let me ask you, what is the meaning of your captain's name?" she asked. "The D . . . who are the D?"
"I don't know. What about your name?" Zoro asked coldly, and he returned her grin with a smirk. "Nico Robin."
Robin's smile dissolved and she let her heels hit the floor before crawling back into her hammock, her back now turned to the two ex-Straw Hats, returning to her book calmly . . .