A/N: Hope everyone is doing well with all the craziness out there right now. Speaking as someone that has to go to work here where things aren't shut down yet, I totally can appreciate those that are trying to follow the guidelines so that infection doesn't spread. :)
It surprised Kia how quickly the Foxy pirates set up a stage, and food stands, lights and all sorts of decorations. The place looked like a carnival had come, which she supposed it had.
"How can you all be so calm!" Nami said, her head in her hands.
"It's already decided, so you might as well stop worrying about it," Zoro chided her.
"Leave her alone Zoro," Usopp chimed in. "You may not be worried, but there's a lot at stake here! I don't want to lose any of our crew!"
"So then we'll win," Zoro shot back, and Usopp grimaced.
"As if it's that easy!" he wailed.
The crew looked up to the stage as Luffy and Foxy swore to uphold the rules of the Davy Back Fight, and Foxy asked Luffy how many games he wanted to play. Kia's eyebrow rose, as she realized these games were like the anime instead of the manga. At least that's what it appears to be… she thought.
"Well, more games means more fun, right?" Luffy asked.
"LUFFY!" Nami and Usopp shouted, holding out a single finger to let him know to choose only one.
"Hmm," Kia said. "I'm thinking two, just in case we lose, we have a chance of getting our crew member back."
Nami and Usopp both changed, raising another finger up.
"Got it!" Luffy called. Her turned back. "We'll do five games!" he said happily.
"You can only do up to three, Straw Hat," Foxy deadpanned.
"Oh!" Luffy said. "Three then!" he turned back to Nami and Usopp. "Sorry guys! Only three!"
Nami and Usopp looked to each other, realizing that Luffy had added their fingers together. Looking further down to their right, they saw one of the Foxy pirates with his finger up.
"You idiot! Why did you add them?!" Usopp yelled.
"And why did you count the enemy's?!" Nami complained.
The Foxy pirates started celebrating, and Nami and Usopp looked like they wanted to cry. Kia tried cheering them up, but knew nothing would help at that moment.
"Who is this Davy Jones guy?" Chopper asked Robin.
"A pirate who was cursed, and forced to spend all eternity at the bottom of the sea," she answered, handing him some cotton candy.
"I've never heard of anyone living under water before," he replied, taking a bite. His eyes lit up in pleasure. "Yummy!"
"Well, that's what the legend says," she replied with a smile. "And all the ships and treasures that sink beneath the waves go to his locker, never to return."
"That's why it's called a Davy Back Fight," Sanji added in. "Because Davy Jones has been taking his pick from pirate crews as long as anyone can remember."
"Scary…" Chopper whimpered.
"Hey!"
The crew turned to the voice, seeing a Foxy pirate come up and hand them a piece of paper. "You need to fill out your roster," he said. "Everyone can compete in two matches, and once it's turned in, it's set in stone."
Zoro took the paper, and looked it over. "There are three events. A race, a ball game, and a team competition."
"Looks like we can all take part in the race," Sanji said, reading over Zoro's shoulder. "Three in the ball game, and five in the team contest."
"Cool!" Luffy grinned. "Go ahead and sign me up for all three!"
"Sorry Captain, that's not how it works," Robin said.
"Only two per person," Kia added. "Sounds like we'll need to use teamwork on all of these in order to win."
"If we lose, they'll surely take Captain Usopp," Usopp complained.
"No, they'll take me," Nami said morosely. "I'm the cute one."
"Any way…" Kia said, looking at the two of them sternly. "We should use some strategy here. The Foxy pirates have plenty of people to choose from, but we don't."
"You have a thought?" Robin asked.
"I'm not sure which events to be in," Kia replied sheepishly. "If I mess up, I don't want to cost us the victory."
"Give yourself some credit Kia," Zoro said, giving her a look. "You've come a far way from the girl we first met."
"I guess so. I'm just worried how I'll do when everyone is watching, like the stairs," she answered, thinking back to the ship. I can go up and down those stairs all day, but as soon as the guys are watching, I trip all over myself.
"Here, I'll fill it out," Sanji said, grabbing the roster page. "We have just enough that everyone can participate in the race…"
"Uh, Sanji?" Kia asked as she watched him write. "Are you sure you want me here?"
"Of course!" he said with a grin. "Besides, I'll be there to help you, and Moss Head can take care of watching our backs."
"Say what?!" Zoro said, trying to look at the paper.
"I guess that's a good plan," she replied. "I would make us lose round three."
"Why?" Robin asked her, as Sanji moved to turn the paper in.
"Uh… because team competitions are sure to require coordination!" Kia told Robin hastily, then turned as a voice came over the loudspeaker.
"AND NOW… WE'LL ANNOUNCE THE LINE UP FOR TODAY'S EVENTS!" the announcer from the foxy pirates said into a hand held microphone, attached to a broadcasting snail that he carried around in a knapsack. Kia looked up and around, noting there were speakers placed throughout the area so that everyone could hear.
"FIRST UP, IS THE STRAW HATS! PARTICIPATING IN ROUND ONE, THE DONUT RACE, IS THE ENTIRE STRAW HAT CREW!"
"Have I mentioned my disease that prevents me from racing?" Usopp muttered, looking ill.
Nami rounded on him, "I don't want to do this stupid race either, so just man up!" she scolded him.
"ROUND TWO, THE GROGGY RING," that announcer continued, "IS RORONOA ZORO, SANJI, AND COPPER KY-AH!"
"Better not get in my way," Zoro grumbled to Sanji.
"Right back at ya," Sanji muttered back.
"How did you spell my name on there, Sanji?" Kia pouted. "He got it so wrong!"
"AND FINALLY, IN ROUND THREE, THE ROUND ROLLER ROUND, WE'VE GOT MONKEY D. LUFFY, NICO ROBIN, NAMI, USOPP AND TONY TONY CHOPPER!"
"Yeah! Let's go!" Luffy yelled in excitement.
"LET THE FEROCIOUS DAVY BACK FIGHT BEGIN! ONE CREW WILL BE CROWNED, AND THE OTHER, FORCIBLY DROWNED! I'M ITOMIMIZU, AND TODAY I'LL BE GIVING YOU A PLAY BY PLAY OF THE ACTION!"
That was when Kia stopped paying attention to the announcer. He wasn't as annoying as she thought he would be, and it seemed like he really just wanted to do a good job, so she decided to tune him out, and focus on the Davy Back Fight.
Step one, she thought, don't let Luffy and Chopper make their boats without input.
"And what happens if you can't run anymore?" Kia asked Chopper, as he explained his idea. "Zoro and I won't be able to help row without an oar you know."
"Oh… you're right. Hmm…" Chopper replied, deep in thought.
"We don't have time to think this through," Zoro spoke up, as he began slicing the barrels.
"Chopper, can you make your handle with only one oar?" Kia asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he answered.
"Okay, so save one oar for Zoro, and two pieces of wood for me." After saying that, she moved over to Luffy and Sanji, wishing she had gotten there sooner as the barrels were in pieces on the ground.
"Uh… need any help?" she asked as she approached.
"This moron says he knows what he's doing," Sanji said as he sat there, looking at Luffy with a mutinous expression.
"I'm going to make us a killer boat, just watch!" Luffy exclaimed.
Kia shrugged, realizing she couldn't change everything. She wandered over to Usopp, letting him know how great his boat was, hoping to give him a boost of confidence. She asked him for a hole saw, and took it back to Chopper. Grabbing her pieces of wood where Chopper left them for her, she sat down and got to work.
First she put her hand flat out, and using some dirt, marked where her thumb would be. Then taking the manual drill, she started cutting a circle into the wood. Eventually, Sanji wandered over to where she sat.
"What are you doing, Kia my heart?" he asked.
Kia looked up from her work, hoping that the small holes she was able to make through her wood pieces would work. She looked up at him, fitting the wood pieces on her hands like flippers.
"We don't have enough oars, so I made these to be able to help paddle," she explained, moving her arms in a rowing motion.
"AND TIME IS JUST ABOUT UP! I HOPE EVERYONE IS READY!" the announcer called. Sanji helped Kia to stand, and they made their way to the water with the rest of their crew and their boats.
"OOH! AND THE ODDS ARE IN! I'LL ANNOUNCE THEM IN ORDER OF THEIR POPULARITY, STARTING WITH THE MOST POPULAR OF COURSE!"
Kia shook her head, knowing popularity just meant the beautiful people, and had nothing to do with who could win.
"JUST AS I THOUGHT! THE TOP SPOT GOES TO OUR IDOL AND FELLOW FOXY PIRATE, PORCHE!" Kia smiled as all the foxy pirates cheered, and Porche gave them air kisses. "JOINING HER IS THE FISHMAN, CAPOTE, AND THEIRS IS THE CUTIE WAGON PULLED BY THE STAR SHARK, MONDA!"
"What!? You have a shark pulling your boat?!" Nami yelled at her.
"I didn't hear any rules forbidding the use of sharks…" Porche replied in a sing song voice. Robin looked to her right, seeing Kia's look of disgust, but acceptance.
Seems Kia was right about these rules, Robin thought. Anything that isn't stated, goes.
"THE SECOND MOST POPULAR TEAM, WELL THIS IS QUITE THE SURPRISE! IT'S THE BARREL TIGER, CONSISTING OF NAVIGATOR NAMI, ARCHEOLOGIST ROBIN, AND SNIPER USOPP!"
Nami could hear the talk from the shore, but she ignored it. "Are you sure this won't sink?" she asked Usopp, feeling a bit unsteady on the boat.
"I told you, I'm not a professional shipwright," he replied angrily. "But at least I can say with certainty, it's better than those abominations!" he pointed to their right, where their crew mates were waiting for the race to start in their own crafts.
"It's a wonder they float at all," Robin mused.
They could see their friends speaking to each other aboard their boats, and Nami voiced what all three of them were thinking. "If we're going to win this race, it looks like it's up to us."
Usopp and Robin nodded, focusing on the race ahead, as the announcer wrapped up his popularity list.
"Hey!" Luffy shouted. "Why are the other two mentioned, and we aren't?!"
"Easy," Sanji replied. "They have cute girls aboard, and we don't!"
"So?" Luffy asked, confused. "Cute girls don't mean they're going to win!"
"They were in order by popularity, not by who's going to win," Sanji explained. "The foxy pirates obviously want to take the girls from our crew."
"Well, we're going to win, so it won't matter! And we'll take our girls!" he replied happily. He looked over to his little sister. "Kia! When we win, I'm taking you first!"
Kia, eyes wide in confusion, looked from Luffy to Sanji, who had slapped his hand over his face, and was shaking his head at his captain.
"Uh, did he say he was going to take me?" she asked, though quietly so only Chopper and Zoro could hear. Chopper looked concerned and confused, but Zoro just started laughing at both of them.
Zoro caught the eternal pose that was tossed to them, and handed it down to Kia.
"ON YOUR MARKS!" the shout came. "GET READY!"
"Hey!"
They looked over, but couldn't hear anything Usopp yelled to them, so they turned back. Kia was sitting cross legged in front of Zoro, her small paddles in her lap. She currently had the oar, and Zoro was steering the rudder. Chopper was grabbing onto a pole in the middle to keep himself steady before he would begin running to power the paddle wheel he made.
The cheering was loud, but they all heard the gun shot, and began paddling quickly. In no time at all, water filled with barrels came rushing up from behind them. They were able to avoid the barrels, but had to stop paddling to do so. Just as the water calmed, there was an explosion, and they looked in shock to see Usopp's boat still in the water, but the back of it was blown off, and it looked like he, Nami, and Robin had been singed.
"Are you all right?!" Sanji shouted out to them.
"Don't touch the barrels!" came the reply.
"Well if we can't touch them, what are we going to do?" Sanji griped, looking around at the barrels surrounding their boats.
"I'll get rid of them!" Luffy shouted. "Gum-gum…"
"Wait!" the rest of them shouted in a panic.
"Are you trying to blow us up?!" Chopper squealed.
"Kia, hand me the oar," Zoro said. He took one of his sword fighting stances, and held the oar up.
"What are you going to do, Zoro?" Chopper asked.
"Stand back and watch," Zoro replied as he began swing the oar around in circles. The wind he generated began pushing the barrels away from their boats, and Luffy began to cheer. Then to finish, Zoro made a strike with the oar, which gave the barrels a huge push… right back to the huge boat they had come from.
Kia could hear the screaming from the boat, and grabbed her paddles. "Let's go, hurry!" she called out, and began paddling.
"Why?" Luffy called.
"Because when they explode, it will make a huge wave, and we want to ride it!" she yelled back. Sanji looked back and turned quickly to shout to Nami about holding on tight.
Within moments, the explosions rang through the air, and the huge wave created from them came straight at the rest of the boats. Several of the smaller foxy pirates' boats were swept away, and Kia shouted at Chopper.
"Hang on and don't try to paddle, or you'll fall off!" she shouted. He jumped, turning small and making his way over Kia, and back by Zoro. He turned big and grabbed the rudder, so Zoro could continue to use the oar.
"This is terrifying!" he screamed, and Zoro shook his head to clear the sudden ringing out of his ears.
"This is amazing!"
Kia looked over, hearing Luffy's shout, and saw that his small, skinny boat now became a wonderful surf board. Sanji was on his knees, trying to keep the shoddily nailed planks together, but Luffy was surfing… one hand out, the other holding his hat to keep it on- and his legs spread to keep himself standing.
When the wave died out, they were near the boats in first, second and third place. Luffy started laughing and wished for another wave to show up. Sanji berated him, saying their boat couldn't handle it.
"Kia, you okay?" she heard, and turned to look behind her. Zoro and Chopper were as wet as she was, though Chopper looked worn out, and Zoro was smirking at her.
"Of course," she replied, as she continued to paddle. "Come on, we've got a race to win."
Chopper moved over her to get back to the paddle wheel, and turned back into his heavy point. Zoro grabbed tightly to his oar, and the three of them started paddling.
"Looking for a party?"
"Well, hellooo!"
Kia glanced back, seeing Sanji already in the boat filled with four women, and Luffy was sitting in the food barge eating.
"Those guys," she groused, and stopped when she noticed Zoro sitting across from Luffy.
"Zoro!" she yelled. "Get back here, now!"
"Lay off Kia, I'm just getting a drink!" he replied, and proceeded to drink his mug dry.
"Would either of you like a candied apple?" another man asked her and Chopper, and Chopper hid behind her.
"What's a candied apple, is it sweet?" Chopper asked.
"Yes, but now isn't the time," Kia replied. "I'll make you one sometime." She looked back at Zoro again, wondering what to say to get him to move. "Let's get going Chopper," she said, as she started to paddle again. She raised her voice so that the monster trio could hear her. "We won't give up like those three have! We don't want to lose!"
"Yeah!" Chopper cheered as he started running on the paddle wheel. Kia paddled as well, and they moved away from the foxy pirates.
"What did you say?!" Zoro yelled as he watched his boat move further away.
Hearing a scream, he looked further out, seeing the other part of their crew was being attacked.
"Nami! Robin!"
Zoro turned, seeing the chef shout as he grabbed Luffy, and hauled him onto their pathetic excuse for a boat. But Zoro couldn't be picky at the moment since he needed a lift. He stepped over, and jumped onto the raft as the chef was paddling away. He still had his own oar, and so he decided to help out, just so he could get back to his own boat even faster.
"Hey, what's Kia doing?" Luffy asked, as he looked ahead. "Pushing with her hands? That'll take forever!"
"She made paddles from pieces of wood," Zoro replied, staying focused on paddling towards the closer boat, while Sanji was angling toward the further one.
"Oh, like little mini oars!" Luffy said with a grin. "She's so smart!" He looked down, and grabbed a couple pieces of broken wood. "Zoro, switch me places!" he called, and moved towards Zoro's legs. The swordsman was quick to jump over him, not certain what his plan was.
Then he fell back into Luffy, who was now the only thing that kept him from falling into the water. The boat was moving as if there were a team of sharks pulling it, and Zoro growled as they sped right past Kia and Chopper.
"Hey, my boat!" Zoro complained.
"Nami! Robin! I'm coming to save you!" he heard the pervert calling.
That does it, he thought, and though it took him awhile, he finally made it to his feet.
"THE BASICALLY BARRELS AND THE SWORDFISH KING BOATS HAVE SUNK AND ARE DISQUALIFIED!"
Zoro, hearing the announcement, whipped his head around. He could see the wreckage behind them, and it was getting smaller. He could see Chopper bobbing above the water, so he assumed Kia was keeping him safe. A sneer danced on his face as he thought of the two of them. I should have been there. I should have protected them, he thought.
He heard another shout, and saw that they were approaching another boat that looked like a pink blob. He could see the weapons the four crew members held, and his sneer turned from disgust to a smirk. I'll protect these two, to make up for it, Kia.
As they came nearer, Zoro grabbed two of his swords, yelled, "Bull's needles!" and jumped. The complicated swings were exact and hit every crucial point holding the boat together before he hit the water. He came immediately to the surface, seeing the boat fall apart, as his captain and the chef moved past them with ease.
Zoro gave a satisfied nod, and started swimming back towards his own boat. He was disqualified after all, and needed to make sure his crew were all right.
Nami had had enough. Robin wasn't taking this seriously, and Usopp wasn't helping either. They had stood a chance for a moment or two, when Luffy and Sanji had shown up, and helped speed them past the first place boat. Of course, soon after, Luffy had collapsed, and they were back where they started- being the only hope for victory.
"OOOH! THEY'RE NOW APPROACHING THE MOST FEARSOME OBSTACLES OF THE COURSE!" Nami looked up, seeing the announcer and his huge sparrow flying above them. "THE LONG CORAL REEF! AND, JUST BEYOND THAT FOREBODING AND DIFFICULT PATH… IS THE DREADED LONG RING WHIRLPOOL OF LONG CAPE! CAN THEY OVERCOME THESE HURDLES?"
Nami glanced forward, seeing the huge corals sticking up in what looked like a large grove of pink trees.
"OHO! AND WHAT'S THIS?" the announcer said loudly.
"What now?" Robin asked, though Nami was certain she was less than amused.
"IT'S FULL DASH HAMBURG AT FULL SPEED! AND RIDING ATOP HIM, IS THE GENIUS OF INTERFERENCE; THE SCOURGE OF FAIRNESS HIMSELF, OUR BOSS… SILVER FOX FOXY!"
"It's him!" Nami said, as she caught a glimpse of the evil smirk on his face. "What are they going to do?" she wondered, even as she kept paddling.
"Can they do anything?" Usopp asked. "They aren't part of the race!"
"I have a feeling they can," Robin said, thinking back to Kia's earlier words. "It was never stated that those on the land can't interfere."
"That's ridiculous!" Nami said, insulted. "What kind of stupid game is this?!"
"For now, let's focus on what's in front of us," Robin suggested, and Nami took a deep breath.
"We're our only hope," Nami said, peering ahead of them. "Usopp, can I see your binoculars?" she asked, and he was quick to find them and hand them over. Nami looked for several moments, and then handed them back. "We need to stop before the coral," she announced, and the other two looked at her in question. "There are whirlpools all around, and I'll need to study them so that we can get through without trouble."
"We can't just paddle through?" Usopp asked.
"No. They are deceptively strong, and will pull us back out easily. Once I see the pattern of the current, we should be able to use them to navigate our way through the coral without paddling at all."
Usopp looked at Nami, impressed. "Well then, by all means," he said. "We'll get you there, you just study away."
"Look, something's coming towards us," Robin said curiously.
Looking up, both Usopp and Nami screamed, "A boulder?!" and started paddling for their lives.
Zoro, Kia and Chopper had just made it back to land. Zoro tossed Chopper up, and turning to his heavy point, Chopper then helped pull Zoro and Kia out of the water. All three of them were now exhausted, and simply sat or laid down right where they were.
"Man, this race is crazy," Zoro said in a mutter.
"Yeah," the other two agreed.
Kia perked up, as she heard the laughing from the foxy pirates around her. She sat up, and looked around, hearing the tail end of Itomimizu's comments about what Foxy was up to.
"Come on guys, we need to keep going," she said as she started to stand.
"Why?" Chopper asked, though he got up as well. "What's going on?"
"Remember when I said that anything goes in these games? Since the rules didn't say anything about those off the field helping, it sounds like the foxy pirates are trying to sabotage our boats from here!"
Zoro stood up as well, and the three of them started running after the boats, trying to catch up to what was happening. After hearing a loud "BANG!" Zoro moved ahead of her and Chopper, both to protect and to attack if needed.
Coming through the crowd of foxy pirates, they saw the large cannon, and heard the screams from the water, where their crew mates were trying desperately to stay on their boats. Without any more hesitation, Zoro moved forward with his swords, turning them around, and took out the pirates, knocking them out cold.
Kia and Chopper cheered for Zoro, and they continued forward, trying to catch up to where their crew's boats were heading towards the coral.
Kia gritted her teeth as she heard the "Feh, feh , feh!" laughter of Foxy.
"We've got to catch up!" she said loudly.
"Right!" the other two responded as they quickened their pace.
"WAIT, WAIT! WHAT'S THIS?" the announcer's voice called out. "THE STRAW HATS ARE SLOWING DOWN!"
Kia didn't want to stop, but Zoro and Chopper slowed to watch the boats as they stopped in front of the reef. The Cutie Wagon cruised past them, and into the reef, only to return moments later.
"WHAAA?! THE CUTIE WAGON HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK OUT OF THE REEF! WHAT'S HAPPENING DOWN THERE?"
"Whirlpools, huh?" Kia said with a smirk. "That will be no problem for Nami."
"They're moving in!" Chopper said excitedly.
"What's that?" Zoro asked, even as the Itomimizu's voice came across the loud speakers again.
"HA HA! AND THERE YOU HAVE IT! THE FIENDISH INTERFERENCE WE'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!"
The foxy pirates started cheering, but after just a moment the Straw Hat's boats exited the corals .
"Woo-hoo! Let's go!" Chopper cheered, and started running after the boats again, several of the foxy pirates running along with them, in order to see the end of the race.
Zoro pulled Chopper up off the ground, and skidded to a stop. "Chopper, Kia went the other way!" he said as he started running in the other direction.
"Whaat? Why?" Chopper asked.
"Don't know, but we need to stay together!" Zoro replied, as he hurried to catch up to her. She was fast, but was going against the flow of people, and of course, Zoro was faster. He caught up in no time. "Kia!" he groused, as he ran beside her. "Don't just leave without us!"
She glanced over, then back to focus on where she was going. "Sorry," she huffed out.
"Where are we going?" Chopper asked from Zoro's shoulder.
"Finish line," she replied, as they neared the party booths and tents again, they saw they weren't the only ones. Everyone was heading for the finish line to see the end of the race.
"OH, AND THE BARELY FLOATS CRASHES, AND IS DISQUALIFIED!" they heard, and Kia slowed to a stop, panting.
"So Luffy and Curly Brow are out too, huh?" Zoro asked. Kia looked at him, noting that he wasn't even breathing hard, and she really wanted to punch him- though in actuality, she wished she could be just like him.
"I'd rather not group in with the crowd," she said to her friends. Looking around, she pointing to the side of the group. "Let's go over there, we should still be able to see the finish, and we can cheer on our friends."
Zoro and Chopper nodded, and the trio walked over to where she had pointed.
Kia searched the ground as they walked, looking for a rock, or something she could use as a distraction. Zoro might stop her if she went running for Foxy, and she couldn't tell them about his devil fruit power without having to explain a lot more than that. But… if I could throw something at him… she thought.
Finding the right size was important. She wanted to distract, not kill him or anything. In fact, a dirt clod might be the better option. She picked up a small rock, and feeling uneasy, decided to try to get Zoro away first.
"We're just going to wait here Zoro, if you want to go have a few drinks," she offered. He raised his eyebrow at her, but she could tell from the gleam in his eye that that was exactly what he wanted to do. "Go on, they're probably giving them away still, and Chopper is here with me. Luffy and Sanji will be here soon too." He looked back and forth between them, then giving a nod, took off back through the crowd.
She took the opportunity to sit and rest as the race began its last minutes. She could hear the commentary, and the tricks that Foxy was trying to pull- with Nami not falling for any of them, and she couldn't help but exchange smiles with Chopper.
Soon, Luffy and Sanji joined them, and they all began cheering for their friends as they came into view. Kia was getting anxious as she looked at the rock in her hand. It could cause a lot of problems if this went the wrong way. She looked over at Luffy, at Chopper, then Sanji.
The small rock hit the ground softly, and Kia stepped back. Seeing that the three of them didn't notice, she began striding out towards Hamburg and Foxy, as they were racing along the coastline. Picking up speed, she ignored everything around her, and keeping her focus on Foxy.
I won't let you win this… she thought, her face becoming angry as she moved towards him.
"You guys were close, you almost won!" a foxy pirate said to Luffy.
"What do you mean? We're totally going to win!"
"Take a look over there, our boss is coming," the man replied. "He's just like you, and has devil fruit powers."
"Aah! Where's Kia?" Chopper shouted as he jumped around.
"You LOST her?" Sanji cried. "Where'd she go?"
"She's over there," Luffy said, pointing. All three of them watched as several things happened at once.
Foxy held out his hand, and shouted, "Slow-slow beam!"
Hamburg saw the girl jump at him, and managed to say, "Boss?"
And Kia did a jumping tackle to hit Foxy's hand out of the way.
But, as things never quite happen as planned… Hamburg moved, taking Foxy with him, which in turn caused Kia to land directly on top of Foxy, knocking him to the ground, and all the while, the slow-slow beam was hitting the Straw Hats and Kia alike.
"AND THE WINNER IS… THE CUTIE WAGON! OUR IDOL PORCHE HAS COME OUT THE VICTOR!" Through the cheering of the crows, Itomimizu's voice rang loudly above the din. "AND IN OTHER SHOCKING NEWS… IT SEEMS ONE OF THE STRAW HATS HAS FALLEN HEAD OVER HEELS FOR OUR BOSS, AND WANTS TO CLAIM HIM AS HER OWN!"
"WHAAT?!" the shout rang out from everywhere as the cheering stopped suddenly.
"What is happening? Get me out of here, Hamburg!" Foxy yelled.
"Kia?" Sanji asked as he made it to her, and though he pulled her with difficulty, he couldn't seem to move her from atop the other captain. "What's wrong with her?" he shouted.
Chopper ran up as well, seeing Kia with her face scrunched up tight, her arms and legs still spread over the man in her tackling leap. "Is she frozen?" he cried.
"No!" Foxy shouted. "She's been hit by slowpoke photons! But we won!" Zoro came running, a mug in his hand, just in time to see Kia seem to unfreeze, and go limp. Then she yelped, and rolled off the man as fast as she could.
She looked around herself in confusion, and asked. "What happened?"
"Out of nowhere, you tackled their captain," Sanji explained as he helped her up.
"No, what happened in the race?" she asked, worried.
"I thought we would win, but then they suddenly slowed down," Luffy said, his face showing his confusion and disappointment.
"You tried to cheat!" Porche snapped as she strode up. "During the Davy Back fight is no time to express your feelings for someone! Especially our boss!"
Kia whipped around to the woman, appalled. "Express my… what?!" she cried, looking horrified.
"Yeah, she was throwing herself at the boss!" some random pirate yelled.
"Man, I wish I was cool and handsome as the boss, and having girls throw themselves at me!" another added.
Kia looked left and right, as she heard the comments sweeping through the crowd of foxy pirates. A hand on her shoulder had her turning.
"Really Kia, my heart?" Sanji looked at her, crestfallen. "You can do so much better!"
Kia face palmed, because there were truly no words. "THAT'S NOT IT AT ALL!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Like we'd believe that!" Porche said loudly, and the foxy pirates nodded along with her. "Our boss is the best, no wonder you want him so bad!"
"Listen here Miss Ky-ah-"
"It's Kee-ah!" Kia shouted, interrupting Foxy, just as Zoro stepped in front of her, looking down at her face.
"It hardly matters now. It's time to move on," he said to her, and started to pull her away.
"Zoro… they're telling everyone that I'm in love with him!" Kia responded, still upset. "That's gross!"
"Boss!"
Zoro and Kia turned back, seeing Foxy on all fours, his head hanging down. "She said loving me is gross…" he cried.
"She didn't mean it boss! She's just embarrassed that you didn't return her feelings so she's lashing out!" Porche said hastily.
"What?!" Kia yelled, turning back, though Zoro held her at bay. "No I'm not!"
Porche ignored her, and Kia's mouth was opening and closing, just like a fish. She didn't know why, but she needed them to know that it wasn't true.
"You were trying to stop our team from winning, so I tried to stop you!" Kia replied. "Besides…" she glanced up at Zoro and muttered, "help me out," then raising her voice continued, "I have a boyfriend, right here!"
Sometimes… I wish I thought things through more carefully… Kia thought, as not only were the Foxy pirates freaking out at hearing that, but her own crew was as well- with the exception of Robin and Nami. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper gaped at them, while Zoro gave her a scowl, and she could hear Sanji behind them yelling something like, "That can't be true! How could he have a girl before me?!"
Then, to make matters worse, Usopp started asking what really happened when they were working out, Sanji challenged Zoro to a fight, and Luffy stalked up to Zoro and demanded, "Aren't you supposed to ask me to date her?"
Kia looked up at Zoro in apology though he didn't look ready to accept it, then over to Nami in a desperate need of assistance, only to receive a shrug from the Navigator and a small smile from Robin.