Chapter 4
Round 2: The Groggy Ring
"[Will the ball, Sanji, attack furiously or run away in fear~? We shall see.]" Sanji stood in a circle with the three Groggy Monsters in front of him, "[Dealing the first hit is Pickles the Tackle Demon!]
"DIE!" The Foxy Pirate charged at the chef, going for a shoulder tackle with his circular pauldrons.
Sanji anticipated this though, "Come on! I'll take you all down!"
Maxwell watched as Sanji jumped over and onto Pickles, "Out of my way." The chef had used him as a springboard to jump at Big Pan, "I'm aiming for you! We win if I hit you into the buoy ring, right?"
However, Maxwell noticed neither Pickles or Hamburg had stopped running towards them. Sanji tried to attack Big Pan with one of his signature kicks, but ended up landing on one of his arms.
That wouldn't have been so bad, if Big Pan's skin wasn't so apparently viscous. "Wuah~!"
Sanji had to run in place so he wouldn't fall off, "[Sanji the Chef is unable to move on Big Pan's arm! But that can't be helped... Big Pan is a fish-giant with mudfish genes, so his skin is extremely slippery!]"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU IDIOT!?" Zoro yelled at the comically running chef.
Maxwell saw Big Pan pulled back his arm, "Speedy—!"
"Who are you calling an idiot, asshole!?" Sanji yelled back at the swordsman. Then he suddenly realized that the half-giant was going to attack.
"—Punk Pass!" Having nowhere to move, Sanji was struck by the giant fishman's palm. The shot put strike had sent him flying towards the other side of the field.
"Zoro!" Maxwell yelled for him as Hamburg came forwards. The mage summoned a Wall of Fire to block his advance. However, Hamburg decided to go around, having seen this trick before. Maxwell then had to run after the gorilla-like man.
"[Good hit! It's Big Pan's Ultra-Long Pass! Hamburg is positioning himself to receive the ball! Maxwell is trying to intercept.]"
"If you fall in, I'll dice you to bits and feed you to the dogs!" "Shut up! It's your fault that I wasn't looking!" "WILL YOU TWO IDIOTS SHUT UP AND FOCUS ALREADY!?"
"SWIPE TACKLE!" Maxwell jerked his head to see Pickles running right at him. He was now stuck between two enemies and both had malicious smiles on their faces.
Just as Maxwell was about to be squished though, a glyph appeared on Maxwell's chest and he rocketed through Pickles with a Fade Step. It didn't chill him, as a Frost Step would, but it certainly freaked him out having suddenly been breezed by a cloud of mist. The last few times Maxwell did do the Frost Step, he always had a focus with him.
Max then took advantage of Pickles' confusion and quickly fired a Flashfire at the player. "[Ooh! And Maxwell lights Pickles on fire, making our all star scramble to tuck, duck, and roll. 'How?' You wonder~ How should I know!? He's a magician!]"
Itomimizu then sees something that catches his eye, "[And Hamburg is in the air, but with no one to pass too he holds onto the ball. But this may be a mistake! Sanji breaks out of Hamburg's grip and kicks him down towards Pickles! AND WHAT'S THIS!? In a sudden urge of cooperation, Zoro grabs Pickles by the leg and throws him up at Hamburg!]" Zoro had to spin Pickles in order to get the momentum, "[THEY'RE GOING TO CRASH!]"
*BONK!* The two Groggy Monsters collide midair and smash their heads against each other.
"[Ooh! That has got to hurt! Both Hamburg and Pickles have been knocked out, on the field. Their perfect play, foiled by the trickery of the Straw-Hats' first-mate.]"
"Tch. Like he was doing that alone," Zoro brushed his hands off as he looked up irritably at the giant sparrow, "That would have worked, even if the cook had remained useless..."
"Useless!?" Sanji landed on the ground and walked over towards Zoro, "I'll have you know, my guy flew faster than yours when I stomped him into the ground!"
"Oh? And was that before or after you were handled like a sack of flour!?" "I don't need you! You are 100 years too early to be of any help to me!" "I wasn't doing this for you, you piece of trash!"
"And you are both not doing us any favours!" Maxwell grabs both men by the ears and brought them close, "We are doing this so we can get Chopper back. Not to stroke your individual egos! If we don't win, we risk losing another comrade, permanently. That includes the girls, Sanji. And don't think I've forgotten your oath Zoro!"
Sanji was a chivalrous pig who wouldn't let a woman go where she didn't want to go. He knew Nami never wanted to be a part of this game to begin with. Zoro meanwhile, had made a vow never to lose to anyone else after his dual with Mihawk. Max should know, he spent hours trying to heal that chest wound.
The mage then releases his crewmates with a light toss, letting them massage their ears, "And if neither of you want to wear one of those stupid masks, then deal with the halve giant. I'll join you in a bit. I'm going to make sure the other two stay out of commission."
"...Fine." "Like we need your help, old geezer!" Both men scoffed, but they acknowledged their teammate, and turned their attention on the half-giant.
The mage then tugged his gloves taut and turned his attention on the two monkey-men. They were still out of it, dazed out of their minds, and Maxwell had no intention to let them recover.
"[And the Stawhat's pull off a dastardly deed! While Zoro and Sanji play the game, Maxwell walks off to bully are poor Hamburg and Pickles! What shamelessness! What depravity! What—Did someone turn down the—? Whoa! Agh!]" A cloud had appeared out of nowhere, and Itomimizu had to steer Chuchun to avoid it.
It was Maxwell's Blizzard spell. Snow, mist, and hail descended on the field in a flurry. And at the epicentre of the snowstorm were Hamburg and Pickles. The two men shivered in and out of consciousness. They were subconsciously aware they were in trouble, but they were still recovering from their concussions. Maxwell meanwhile had ice growing all over him, yet he was not alarmed. It was a passive spell, allowing him further armor in the presence of the cold.
"[What's going on!? We can't see a thing in there!]" the announcer's voice echoed in the din. The audience couldn't see inside?
"Good," that meant they couldn't interrupt what he was about to do.
Maxwell summoned two more glyphs. The Winter arrays both appeared on the ground, beneath the two downed men. Maxwell was going to trap them here. With the clench of his fists, the circles burst upwards, trapping Hamburg and Pickles within Winter's Grasp. They couldn't move, but Maxwell wasn't going to be satisfied with that.
The mage then snapped his fingers, six times. With each snap, he pointed. Where he pointed, more runes appeared, until he made two triangular formations under the human popsicles. When the first casing melts off, they'll move. When they move, they'll trigger another Ice Rune, leading them right back to being on ice. And this will happen as many times as it will take.
Maxwell then summoned an Ice Wall. Maxwell was going to guarantee this cycle as many times as he could by purposely directing them onto the glyphs with the space provided.
"Enjoy the show..." Maxwell uttered beneath his breath. He'll get sculptures out of them soon enough. For now, he had to help Sanji and Zoro. So the mage disappeared, evaporating into a Fade Step.
O O O
"B-B-B-But how!?" Foxy watched as a freak blizzard appeared on the field. When he thought of using his Groggy Monsters, he thought he had this game in the bag. Now he was freaking out! He was down two players, and both those arguing chef and swordsman were going after Big Pan.
"Shishishishi! That my crew!" Luffy was enjoying the show with eating a hotdog.
"Luffy! Where did you get that!?" Nami scolded her captain.
"No! Seriously! How!?" Foxy rounded on the rubber-man, "First off, your first-mate is a freaking sorcerer! Why isn't his bounty larger!? Your swordsman threw around Pickles like he was nothing, and he was three times his size! And then your chef was able to outmuscle Hamberg and get out of hid grip! Not to mention how violent he is! How are these guys so strong!?
Luffy only shrugged and smiled, "Their my nakama. And they are awesome! By the way, Roxy, you got any ketchup?"
"That wasn't even the right gender..." Foxy fell to his knees, deflated once again.
"[Both Zoro and Sanji are heading for the ball. Big Pan tries to go and stomp them, but the two players split up! They are now on either side of him as Big Pan tries to decide who to focus on.]"
"GO! ZORO! SANJI!" Usopp cheers from the sidelines. Both men were dancing around the half-fishman, trying to see what kind of damage they could do to him. They were using guerrilla tactics. Sanji was testing his kick on Big Pan's thigh, while Zoro was experimenting with katas on the other shin.
"Grah! You're getting annoying!" Big Pan raised his leg and swiped at Sanji, who dodged. But suddenly, blades grew from the soles of Big Pan's shoes, and the half-giant tried to kick at Sanji.
"Whoa!" Sanji backflipped away from Big Pan as he landed. He narrowly avoided being stomped and skewered from that kick. With a bit of distance between them, both enemies ignored each other, for different reasons.
"Hey Ref! I thought weapons weren't allowed!" Sanji yelled at the referee.
*Whistle whistle whistle~* The Foxy Pirate was purposely looking away from the field.
"What the hell is he doing!?" Usopp yelled at the perspirating official.
"Fueheheh... The referee can't see 'everything.'" Foxy gloated over his advantage. He literally owned the only referee for this game.
"YOU CHEAP MOTHER—" Just before Sanji could fire his shoe at the sports official, a sudden glacier had sprouted between them. This wall of ice was a cloudy blue and ran all along the field line. It wasn't very tall but it was tall enough to obscure the audience's view.
This only added to Sanji's ire, "MAXWELL! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" The mage had emerged from his little ice storm and was walking towards him.
"If the referee doesn't want to watch, then let him. This just ensures his privacy," Maxwell patted the ice sheet.
"BUT NOW I CAN'T SHOW OFF TO NAMI AND ROBIN!"
"Earn your laurels and kisses later, jackass!" Maxwell noticed Big Pan swinging a giant sized axe at Zoro, "We're going to finish this. Now!" Sanji could own utter curses at the old man as he joined him on the field.
"[AND MAXWELL REJOINS THE GAME! This mage sure enjoys ruining everybody's fun. But, I think that freak storm is even disappearing! Let's take a look!]" The cloud a flurry disappear, revealing what had happened to Pickles and Hamburg, "[My God, he froze them! They look like cave men frozen in blocks of ice! He didn't even give them the chance to stand up! Oh the humanity~!]"
"Zoro!" The swordsman notices Maxwell and Sanji coming to join him. He had been chased around trying not to get pulverized by those spiked boots on the half-giant's feet.
"About frickin' time!" Zoro pivots to stare down Big Pan as he comes marching towards him, "If I knew they were hiding weapons I wouldn't have left mine!"
"Sanji! Jump through this!" Maxwell summons a Winter glyph in the air.
"Is that what I think it is?" Sanji asks the mage. When he sees the nod the chef starts to grin, "Then let's see what this is like!" Sanji tenses his leg muscles and jumps up into the floating magic circle. As soon as Sanji touched the rune, the cook was shot like a cannon into the air. A vaporous comet, even faster than his initial propulsion.
"Zoro! Make this count!" Maxwell summons a Fire Rune right on Big Pan's mask
*Boom!* "AAAAAGH!" Big Pan reels at having an explosion straight in the face. The heat and the flames had blinded him, so the half-giant instantly covered his face in pain.
"[And Big Pan has been blinded by Maxwell Trevelyan! Damn the bastard! Is it not enough he turned two of our own into popsicles!]" Maxwell wasn't sure if Itomimizu's grief was sincere or not, "[Roronoa runs ahead straight at Big Pan. This might be it folks!]"
"Max! Zap him!"
*Tzzzt—CRACK!* The mage does as the swordsman says and summons a Lightning Bolt to strike Big Pan. The half-giant jolts from the electricity running through him. This normally wouldn't giants as much, but this guy was also a part fish. That mucus made for a good conductor.
"Mutoryu..." Zoro jumps at Big Pan, aiming right for the abdomen. He visualizes a dragon in his mind, before snapping them open, "Dragon Twister!" Zoro spins midair and hammers both his arms and fists into the half-giants belly.
With no way to brace, and the slime evaporated, Big Pan takes the whole force of the attack. He is knocked backwards, and stumbles to keep himself from falling on his back.
"I ain't done with up either, slimeball!" Sanji yells from above. He was free falling from a great height, thanks to Max. That spell felt weird as hell, but now he could really shine! Sanji immediately starts spinning using his falling momentum, and kicks Big Pan right in the cheekbone, "JOUE! SHOOT!"
That kick had enough force give Big Pan whiplash. It sent him reeling, backwards and off balance. The fishman was going to fall, but they need a bit more force to actually get his head in the buoy! "[Big Pan is going down! Could this be the end!?]"
"Zoro! Throw me!" Maxwell barks orders at the swordsman. He takes a running start to jump into the air. Zoro catches him by the legs and spins him around, then throws him into the air. If Zoro could do it with Pickles, he can do it with Max.
Airborne, Maxwell calls out to the falling chef, "Sanji, get me a good angle!"
Seeing what the mage was doing, Sanji tenses his body, "Brace your legs!" They miss each other by inches before Sanji summersaults in the air. Maxwell and Sanji's feet connect and the chef pushes with all his strength, propelling Maxwell higher and towards Big Pan.
The mage now had a bird's eye view of the falling giant. If Big Pan fell as he was, he'd be close, but the ball wouldn't land in the buoy. There was no way all three of them could drag the half-giant to the finish line. If he could add a bit more force though...
Maxwell's hands jerk into motions. Deliberate gestures, summoning Storm glyphs in and around his arms. Max knew what he wanted, he got the idea from Skypiea. The spells compounded into a pentagonal formation, spinning in front of him as he took aim. Maxwell then braced himself, holding his arm like a cannon.
"Penta-sigilatum: ENERGY BARRAGE!"
A hail arcane bolts spat out of Maxwell's circle like a machine gun. The magical missiles shot Big Pan into the ground like a spiked volleyball. Pure mana struck him like a volley of arrows, streaking like shooting stars. The half-giant bounced on the ground as he landed on his back. He was at the end of the field. Maxwell turned into the Fade Step to land safely. Did it work?
...
...
...
"[GOAL!]"
The crowd went wild!
"[GOAL! GOAL! GOAL~~~!]"
The watching Straw-Hats were comparatively yelling their heads off, hanging onto each other.
"AWESOME! THEY WON!" "THAT WAS BEAUTIFUL~!"
The Foxy pirates were in awe of the team's strength.
"That was amazing! Those punks are so strong!" "IDIOTS! DON'T PRAISE THEM!" "I'M SO TOUCHED! I'M GONNA CRY!" "Cool! They're so cool!" *WHISTLE! WHIWHIWHI WHISTLE~!*
Try as he might, Foxy couldn't tell of his crew without it falling on deaf ears, "Imbeciles... How did it end like this!?" Worse of all, the Stawhats had accomplished no illegal plays!
"Oh Mr. Referee~" Nami skipped up to the Ref, "Would you blow the whistle?"
"Er—Well—You see, I need too—" *WHISTLE~!* "—Huh...?" Nami had stuffed the whistle in his mouth to blow the sharp instrument, "Oh no...!"
"Thank you~" Nami waved goodbye.
"[There it is! The ending whistle! The victory is official! In the Davy Back Fight, Round 2, defeating the Almighty Groggy Monsters and winning the round...! IT'S TEAM STRAW-HAT! CONGRATULATIONS!]"
"You were lucky Max was there with you! Don't screw around next time! I was scared!" Usopp berated the returning swordsman.
"Will you quit hitting me?" Granted they were more like slaps on his arm, but it was nonetheless annoying.
"NAMI~! ROBIN~! DID YOU SEE IT! DID MY AWESOMENESS STUN YOU?" Sanji had danced towards the girls, the ice wall melting a while ago.
"Good work," Robin congratulated him. Nami only smiled and nodded, indulging Sanji the one time.
Maxwell walked up to Luffy. He had is arms crossed as his captain did," ...We won."
Luffy grinned back at his first-mate, "...Heheh, Good job!"
"You're not mad about me—?"
"What would I be mad about? Shishishishi! I knew we would win!" Maxwell blinked at his captain. Then he saw Luffy wink at him, and smiled. He appreciated the faith Luffy had put in him. Even if he had mixed things around for this round.
"[And now...]" A drum roll sounded as Itomimizu started to speak, "[The victor of Round 2, Team Straw-Hat~, can pick any crew member from the Foxy Pirates as their prize, or take their flag! Which will the Straw-Hat's captain choose? Who will their captain choose~!?]"
"Of course I'll chose him!"
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
"Luffy... You actually need to say who you're going to choose," the mage deadpanned at his captain. Maxwell wasn't sure how to feel about all the anxious faces looking at Luffy.
"I knew that~!" Luffy waved his crewmate off, "Okay. I'll choose Ch—"
"Wait, Luffy!" Nami interrupted her captain. Some of the Foxy Pirates did a faceplant in response. They were still waiting!
Nami however had a proposal, "The third match is one-on-one, and their player is their captain. So if we take that man now, we get an automatic third win. In other words, we can get Chopper back without any more fights!"
The Foxy Pirates were shocked.
"[THAT'S DOWN RIGHT DIRTY!]" "I overestimated you!" "Cheapskate!"
Itomimizu immediately started putting it on thick, "[What an unbelievably cold-blooded woman! She is pure evil and totally untrustworthy! Throughout the decades of Davy Back Fight history, many people thought of such a trick, but nobody ever put such dishonour into action! I'm sure everyone here—]"
"OH PUT A SOCK IN IT!" Maxwell chucked a fireball at the flying announcer, "YOU GUYS TRIED THE EXACT SAME THING WHEN YOU MISREAD THAT ROSTER SHEET, BEFORE AND AFTER THAT FIRST ROUND!" Notice Maxwell didn't admit to cheating either.
"SHAMELESS!" yelled one underling. The Foxy's were all starting to jeer at Nami.
"I'm with Mr. Magician on this. Where is honour when they disregard all the rules?" Robin held Nami as she started crying into her arms.
"SCUM!"
"They're so mean...!" They were crocodile tears though.
"Stop crying. It's your own fault," said Zoro. He knew her long enough to recognize them.
"CHEAPSKATE!"
"I agree with Nami!" Usopp raised his arm. He wanted the Davy Back Fight over and down with as well.
"This is stupid," Luffy grimaced.
"PLATYPUS!"
Nami's attitude suddenly did a one-eighty, "You're really starting to tick me off." She was giving them the Evil Eye.
...
...
...
"So? No more comments?" Nami asked.
"...Sorry..." The Foxy pirates muttered. She was not a woman to mess around with.
"[Uh... In any case, the choice is the captain's alone,]" Apparently Itomimizu had dodged that fireball, "[Only their captain, Monkey D. Luffy shall decide! Let's see who he I'll choose?]"
"Actually, Nami," Robin approached her fellow female, "If we do as you said, we will certainly get an easy win. However, I don't want that split-head travelling with me."
Nami did a dramatic gasp, "So true!" and covered her mouth to cover the grin on her face.
Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro all waved their hand, like they were fanning away the putrid smell, "Yeah. We don't need that kind of trash."
Maxwell looked over to see Foxy's shocked and rejected reaction. He was acting like the last boy chosen for a children's football team. Honestly, the mage didn't know whether to fell pity or disgust for the enemy captain... Probably disgust.
Luffy then turned to the crowd, "Chopper! Come on back!"
Tears ran out of Choppers eye like a waterfall as he made a beeline for Luffy, "WOKAY! WAH~AH~AH!"
"NO~ CHOPPY~!" Only Porche was reluctant to see him leave the Foxy Pirates. Mostly because he was so cute and cuddly.
The little doctor had hugged Luffy when he got to him, "THANKS FOR SAVING ME!" He still had tears and snot running down his face.
Luffy laughed, "Stop crying. It's not like Zoro, Sanji, and Max could've lost anyways."
Foxy was staring at the ground, depressed. His crew took notice, "Oh no! Boss' gentle heart is shattered again! He has completely crumbled! The pain..."
Porche was by his side as usual, "They bluntly said they don't want the Boss!"
"Boss, don't be sad. We want you!" His underlings all tried to cheer him up, "BOSS!" "Boss, teach them a lesson in Round 3!" "Yeah! We're looking forward to it!" "BOSS!"
"You guys..."
Foxy looked up at his crew like a beam of sunlight, "Quit the bullshit and fight already," only to be verbally smacked down by Sanji.
"BOSS!" All they Foxy crew could do was watch as their captain's ego was shattered again.
That said, he still recovered and pointed a finger at the Straw-Hats, "Ha! Listen, you! No one, can win against me in combat! Especially for Round 3! Besides," Foxy started waving that finger, "the crew member you lose in the final round can't be won back. All of you should be prepared to become one of us, permanently!"
"I won't lose to you!" Luffy yells back at his opponent.
Foxy turns his back on Luffy, "...Fueheheh... There are many differences between a normal battle and a game battle." The captain then started walking away, confident in his ability to win.
"Bullshit..." Maxwell muttered under his breath. Luffy was going to win. Maxwell was certain of that. There were no differences here. A fight was a fight was a fight, no matter how you put it. And Luffy had tangled with Warlords.
They were gonna win. That was a guarantee!