It had taken awhile for things to calm down, but once Robin took pity on Kia and asked Foxy about his devil fruit, most everyone was focused on him and his power, and not Kia. She discovered that her plan had almost worked, but as she hit Foxy, his slow-slow beam still hit the back of the Straw Hat's boat, enough that the Cutie Wagon had beaten them by a foot.

Everything from that point, happened just as she remembered. Foxy chose Chopper, and the little reindeer screamed as they took him to the stage. He begged for all of them to help him, and Kia- though knowing they would get him back- started tearing up at his crying.

Eventually, Zoro gave his speech about sucking it up and being a man, and Chopper- now inspired- sat bravely to watch the next event. Suddenly, Zoro was the epitome of cool in the eyes of the foxy pirates, and Kia was the object of desire for the men- so they could be like Zoro- and jealousy from the ladies, who wanted him to want them instead.

Neither she or Zoro enjoyed that very much.

"Thanks a lot Kia," Zoro grumbled, as their crew gathered away from the foxy pirates. They had a small break time, as the field was prepared for the next event.

"Look, I'm sorry, and I'll owe you like a million drinks if you'll keep playing along," Kia replied. "I just couldn't let them talk about me liking Foxy anymore." She shivered in disgust, saying "blech."

"Wait, playing along?" Sanji shouted with a grin. "You mean it's not true?!"

Zoro threw his arm over Kia's shoulders. "Of course it is. Stay away from her, crappy cook."

Kia sat frozen and eyes wide, not wanting to upset Sanji, but needing Zoro's help more at the moment. She gave a timid smile, and Sanji turned away, completely upset again.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed to Zoro.

"I should get something out of this," he replied under his breath, as he removed his arm. "Even if its just seeing Prince Eyebrows cry."

Kia gave him a condemning look, but said nothing.

"This is so exciting!" Luffy said, as he joined them with his hands full of food from the concession stands. "I'm sure we'll win the next round!"

"WHILE THE FIELD IS GETTING READY, I'LL EXPLAIN THE RULES OF THE GROGGY RING EVENT!" Itomimizu's voice carried over the loudspeaker. "ON THE FIELD WILL BE TWO GOALS, AND YOU WIN BY PUTTING THE BALL, INTO THE OPPOSING TEAM'S RING! BUT, THE BALL ISN'T A BALL!- - - IT'S A PERSON!"

"So it's a three on three ball game, huh?" Nami asked, and Kia nodded.

"Yeah, but which one of us is going to be the ball?" she replied.

"He will," Zoro said, pointing at Sanji. A foxy pirate appeared out of nowhere, and stuck the ball marker on Sanji's head, and headed back to his own crew. The Straw hats were glancing around in surprise, wondering all sorts of things at that moment.

"It's something to think about," Kia responded, after waving away the thoughts of the foxy pirates. "If one of the guys is the ball, they can do a good job of defending themselves from being scored. If I'm the ball, they'll have a better chance of scoring the other guy."

"You're forgetting one very important thing Kia," Usopp said, glancing over at where Sanji and Zoro were throwing the ball headpiece back and forth to each other. "That would mean those two would have to work together to score!"

And though Luffy was laughing at their antics, Kia and Nami both nodded at Usopp's point. Kia looked past Nami to the archeologist. "What do you think Robin?" she asked.

Robin looked surprised for a moment, but she put her book down in her lap. "I'd say the decision is yours," she said, also looking over to the chef and swordsman. "It doesn't look like either of them want to be the ball, though I'm sure one of them would do it if necessary." She looked back to Kia. "However you have been working very hard on your dodging and blocking skills, so I would suggest deciding on whichever makes you more comfortable."

Kia nodded, though her stomach seemed to be filled with flitting butterflies. She doubted she would be any help in getting the humongous fishman/giant into the goal, but she was nervous about being able to dodge the other two monsters as well. If she was the ball, she would be a target and could get hurt. But on the other hand, if she was trying to score, she'd mostly likely be hurt and distract the others.

"I'll be the ball," she said in offer, and Zoro and Sanji both looked at her skeptically. "I've been working on my dodging, haven't I?" she asked, holding out her hand for the head piece. "No better time than now to show my stuff."

"AND THE FIELD IS READY!" came the announcement. "PLAYERS TO THE FIELD!"

"Here we go," Kia said, as she stood with the others. She knew Sanji and Zoro didn't need her there in order to win. Last event, she had tried to change things and didn't succeed. This time, she could only hope that she'd be able to keep things the way they were supposed to go… without dying.

"OH! I HEAR THE THEME SONG…OF THE INDOMITABLE GROGGY RING ELITE! THEY'RE UNDEFEATED! UNBEATABLE! UNSTOPPABLE!"

Kia moved with Sanji and Zoro as Itomimizu introduced the three monsters they would be playing against. She could hear Nami and Usopp yelling on the sidelines, but she didn't look over until she heard Luffy yell, "Hey guys!"

She glanced over, as did her teammates. "You've got this!" he called, and Kia gave him a thumbs up before working to secure the ball marker to her head. So doing, she missed the look that Luffy gave the guys, and their nods back to their captain.

Following after her, they came up on either side of her as she moved onto the field.

"THE GROGGY MONSTERS ARE READY FOR ROUND TWO! AND OPPOSING THEM, ARE… THE ANGRY COOK- - SANJI!"

"I think you mean, amazing chef," Sanji muttered.

"THE MAN WITH A 60 MILLION BERI BOUNTY… THE PIRATE HUNTER… RORONOA ZORO!"

"Hmph," Zoro grunted.

"AND THE WOMAN BETWEEN THEM, THE CUTE TEMPTRESS WHO PLAYS WITH NOT ONLY THE PIRATE HUNTER'S HEART, BUT OUR BOSS' HEART AS WELL- - - COPPER, KIA!"

"IT'S COOPER!" she shouted up to the sky.

No one listened, as the referee did a coin toss, and then announced to Zoro and Kia that they couldn't have their weapons. They tossed them to their friends for safe keeping, and Zoro gave a smirk as he hit his fists together in anticipation.

And of course, Sanji just had to comment, which led to a fight. Kia jumped between them before it could go anywhere.

"Let's go," Zoro said to Kia. "Oh, and cook… hope you get trampled out there."

"Up yours!" Sanji snarled. "Don't worry Kia my dear, I'll protect you!" he said with a suave smile.

"SEEMS THE LADY ALREADY HAS ANOTHER HEART CAUGHT IN HER SNARE!"

Kia stopped her foot and threw back her head. "I DO NOT!"

"Focus Kia," Zoro said quietly beside her. "Let's take them down." He gave her a nudge and she moved forward, away from the protection and safety of the guys, and into the circle that was in front of three of the biggest monsters she had ever seen. Looking up, she couldn't help but gulp as they all grinned at her.

The whistle blew, and expecting the first charge, Kia retreated back to give herself room to dodge. If needed, she could easily slide under their legs, but she didn't want to give away any moves too soon, since she might need them later.

She could hearing the cheering and yelling from the sidelines, but she put it out of her head, and focused on the opposing team.

Sanji streaked past her, heading straight for the wotan. The second largest monster, by the name of Pickles, charged towards her. She moved quickly to the right to avoid his shoulder tackle, going to where Sanji had been. She looked forward and cursed herself. Sanji was slipping on the wotan's skin, and unable to attack the ginormous ball man. Kia you fool! You were supposed to warn them about that! she berated herself.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot?!" Zoro yelled up at Sanji, missing Pickles as he raced past.

"Who are you calling an idiot?!" Sanji replied furiously, looking back to the swordsman just as the giant's hand smashed into him, sending him spiraling through the air.

"SANJI!" the shout came from the sides.

"Oh crap!" Kia yelled, jumping up as Sanji skid across the grass under her. If she hadn't jumped, he would have bowled her over.

"Sling Tackle!"

Kia heard the sound of pain coming from Zoro, and glanced over, seeing him on the ground.

"PICKLES ENTERS ENEMY TERRITORY!" the announcer cried. "MEANWHILE, CAN HAMBURG CATCH KIA IN THE AIR?!"

Kia jerked as arms caught her, and she went even higher, as Hamburg brought her along with him into the air. He shouted, "Gorilla Throw!" and spun, letting her go, and she flew back toward their own goal, where she could see Pickles and Zoro racing to catch her.

She tried her best to move in mid air, anything she could to adjust herself so that she could counteract what was happening. Pickles started spinning and as she descended, she saw Zoro flung away, landing with his face on the ground. As she fell to the spinning monster, she tried to grab on to any part of him, but was immediately flung away as well… straight up into the sky.

It all happened very quickly, but as she was flying through the air, it seemed that time had slowed. She watched as the large wotan ran up the field, and threw Hamburg in the air to intercept with her. She kicked her leg out as he came near, but his gorilla arms were longer than her legs, and he caught her again.

His momentum changed her trajectory, and they sailed towards her goal, with him holding her over his head, waiting to slam dunk her into the ring. The voices from the sidelines that she had ignored- she could hear them clearly now.

"Kia!" she heard Chopper screaming.

"Zoro! Sanji! Do something!" came from Luffy and Usopp.

"Stupid Eyebrows!" she heard, and tilted her head back to look behind her at the field. She could see upside down Zoro whirling Pickles around by his leg before releasing him, and she grinned, knowing she wouldn't be scored just yet.

"IS IT ABOUT TO END ALREADY?!" came the voice on the loudspeaker.

"You aren't going to score!" Zoro shouted.

Kia heard Sanji's voice, and tilted her head forward. "I won't have that swordsman one up me by saving Kia before me!"

It was as if time sped up again, as Hamburg released her due to Sanji's grip and kick, and Kia grabbed onto the chef as they fell back to the ground. She ended up in a piggy back grip, and held on as Sanji bent to cushion the fall.

He waited until she stood before straightening, and the three of them looked over at Hamburg and Pickles in a heap by their goal, out cold.

"That was close," she muttered.

"NO GOAL!"

Sanji glanced over at Zoro, pointing at him accusingly. "I don't need your help," he sneered. "You're cramping my style!"

"You get thrown around too easily to be of any good," Zoro retorted. "Is your style getting punched into the ground?!"

"COULD IT BE?! A DUO AS STRONG AS THE GROGGY MONSTERS HAS APPEARED IN THE RING? WE HAVE AN EPIC GAME ON OUR HANDS! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE!"

The announcer flew with his giant sparrow around the ball field. "THE CROWD IS STUNNED! TEAM STRAW HAT- MINUS THE BALL OF COURSE- IS QUITE FORMIDABLE!"

"Rude…" Kia pouted, though she couldn't really argue, and she was pretty surprised at the cheers for Zoro and Sanji on the side lines that weren't from their own crew.

"Listen you PLAYBOY COOK, you'd better get those FANCY EYEBROWS away from me, and in a HURRY!" Zoro shouted with scorn.

"No you listen, YOU DUMB OAF! If you don't get your MEAT HEAD off the field RIGHT NOW I'm going to fry it up!" Sanji shot back.

"All right guys," Kia said, stepping in between them with her hands up. "We've got a chance to get their ball guy! Come on!" she gestured toward the giant fishman.

They ignored her, and continued arguing, getting louder as they went.

"GUYS!" she shouted, but still nothing. Turning, she began walking toward the middle of the field, her only idea now, to get close to the ball man, and scream. She didn't like it, but it seemed both of them were willing to protect her. If this was the only way to get through to them… so be it.

"They're funny!" Luffy said as he laughed.

"Zoro! Sanji! Now's your chance!" Usopp hollered. "What are you waiting for?! The ball guy is all alone!"

Both men stopped arguing, and turned, seeing Kia disappear under a giant foot as it smashed to the ground.

"KIA!" they both yelled as they started running towards where she had been.

"RUN!" they heard, and saw Kia running towards them from around the foot. She passed them as it raised in the air again, and both of them saw the huge spikes in the bottom.

"RUN!" they both shouted, turning and running away. They caught up to Kia, and each reached for her as they ran.

Not knowing what was happening, the straw hats on the sidelines simply gaped. The picture of Kia, her torso being held by Zoro, and her legs by Sanji - as they ran side by side away from the huge fishman.

"You'll never score if you run away from the ball man!" Usopp yelled.

"We're doing our best! That guy's got knives on his shoes, and if we don't run he'll make mulch out of us!" Zoro snarled back.

"Hey ref!" Sanji shouted. "I thought you said no weapons!"

"AH! We're gonna die!" Kia yelled, trying not to squirm in their grip, but feeling the need to move, and ending up crawling up Zoro to hang on to him.

Seeing that he no longer had a hold on Kia, and that she was clinging to Zoro made Sanji see red. He moved out of the way of the spiked shoes, and glared at the ref. Loosening his shoe took only a moment, and he kicked with all his anger.

The crowd watched in awe as the cook shouted, "Stop screwing with US!" and his shoe flew straight into the face of the referee, knocking him down.

Sanji began striding over to him, and Usopp caught him just in time, before he pummeled the ref into paste.

"You saw the whole thing, you little cheater!" Sanji yelled. "I saw you sweating over there!"

"Nuh-uh, I didn't shee any-shing!" the ref replied, trying to stand, but so dizzy he just swayed.

"LIAR!" Sanji hollered, Usopp using all his strength to hold him back.

Kia took all this in as she held onto Zoro like a strange backwards backpack. "He's arguing with the ref… oh, they just gave him a yellow card…" she said, giving Zoro the play by play.

Zoro was panting by this point, and Kia felt horrible. Maybe he could toss her aside, and they could distract the giant? she thought, looking up.

"Holy- - He's got a giant axe!" she screamed.

Sanji looked over, hearing the scream and pointed to the field. "Wait, an axe?! You can't miss that!"

The ref whistled as he looked the other way. "I didn't see… are you sure?"

Sanji was practically vibrating with fury. "OF COURSE I'M SURE! He's got a giant axe, you can see for yourself, stupid!"

"Give it up Sanji! You're just playing into their trap!" Usopp argued.

"Who cares!"

"If you won't do it for me, do it for Chopper!"

"Okay!" Luffy said as he marched towards the ref. "Stand back and let ME handle them!"

"No! The captain butting in isn't going to help!" Usopp said as he grabbed for Luffy.

"Sanji!" Nami called, pointing to the field. "Win this for me!"

Sanji fell onto one knee, making a heart shape with his hands. "I won't fail you, Nami my swan!" and with that, he ran out to his teammates.

Nami glanced over to Kia, hoping what she had done would help. She was surprised to see that Kia was no longer holding onto Zoro, but the two of them were being chased… or rather, were leading the monstrous ball man towards his own goal.

"I hope this works!" Kia shouted, as she and Zoro zigged and zagged over the field, bringing the fishman into position for a takedown.

"We can't move him once he's down, so we have to bring him down into the goal!" Zoro hollered back. "Almost there! Now Kia!"

"Hey UGLY!" Kia yelled as she skidded to a stop near the other team's goal, and bringing the fishman's attention to her. He stopped as well, looking down at her, and raising his boot high. "That's right, get a little overbalanced…" she said to herself, and suddenly took off towards him.

"KIA!" she heard from the other side of the field, looking up as Sanji came running for her. He and Zoro looked like they were going to collide if one of them didn't move.

"Watch out for each other!" she called. "Work together you morons!" she screeched, as they began pushing at each other.

They both jumped into the air, wanting to make the hit that would bring down the giant, yet the hesitation and the fighting had given him time to adjust. He turned and dropped to the ground in front of them, his massive arms sweeping around to the front, and knocking Kia flying. She hit the ground over and over, finally rolling to a stop, where she laid, unmoving.

The Straw Hat crew gasped, as they watched their friend fly head over feet over forty yards away.

Looking back at their fighters, they saw the fishman holding his ankles in his hands, forcing them to slide in circles around his backside.

"NOW THERE IS NO ESCAPE FOR THE FIGHTERS OF TEAM STRAW HAT! AND LOOK! HAMBURG AND PICKLES ARE RECOVERED FROM THEIR EARLIER INCIDENT! WHAT'S THIS? IT SEEMS THAT THEY'VE UPDATED THEIR WARDROBE!"

Nami glanced up at the bird circling around, as the foxy pirates began calls for their team to crush and maim the others.

"LEADER HAMBURG IS SPORTING NEW IRON KNUCKLES AND ELBOW GUARDS. WHERE DID HE GET THOSE? MEANWHILE, PICKLES HAS DONNED SPIKED SHOULDER PROTECTORS, WHICH CLEARLY VIOLATE THE NO WEAPONS RULE! BUT, BY COMPLETE COINCEDENCE, THE REFEREE SEEMS TO BE DOING SOME STRETCHES RIGHT NOW! OH WELL, YOU CAN'T CATCH THEM ALL!"

The crew on the sidelines were worried, but the foxy team ignored Kia on the ground, and went straight for Zoro and Sanji. The fishman finally let go of his ankles, launching them into the air, while Pickles assisted Hamburg into the air as well. He used his iron knuckles to knock Zoro down to the ground, while the giant fishman leaped up, and spiked his teammate like a volleyball- landing him on top of Zoro… with his iron elbow guards between them.

Zoro coughed up blood in a fit, then his head hit the ground.

"ZORO!" Usopp screamed, unsure if he was even still breathing.

"THE STRAW HATS ARE SHOWN THE POWER OF TEAMWORK, AS THE GROGGY CHAMPIONS TURN TO THE STRAW HAT'S CHEF! PICKLES IS LAUNCHED FROM BIG PAN, AND HIS SPIKED SHOULDERS ARE CLOSING IN FAST!"

"SANJI!" Luffy shouted. "MOVE!"

Sanji had just dizzily made it to his feet when the spiked shoulder plowed into him, sending him flying. Hamburg rose to meet him, sending him soaring back to Pickles with a hit from his iron knuckles. A second hit from the shoulder of spikes sent him up, where Big Pan slapped him down to the ground, with a mighty blow.

"IT'S LIKE THEY DON'T EVEN CARE ABOUT SCORING!" the announcer said in faux shock.

"This is bad," Robin said, concerned.

"Oh no…" Nami added, her hand covering her mouth.

"Get up Zoro... Sanji…" Luffy said as he looked over to where Kia still lay still. "Kia… come on you guys. I believe in you…"

"WHAT'S THIS?" the announcement came suddenly. "THE STRAW HAT'S BALL WOMAN IS ON HER FEET?!"

The strain of just standing seemed too much to bear. She couldn't hear anything, there was just a dull buzzing sound, and she couldn't really see very well, it all kind of blurred together.

But… she knew what had just happened, something that they had tried to avoid, but it happened anyway. They were hurt, oh man do I hurt…

Kia blinked her eyes a few times, getting her vision a little clearer. By some miracle, she wasn't that far away from Sanji and Zoro, and they mercifully had fallen near each other.

I tried quitting already, and that didn't stick… she thought as she swayed. So since I'm determined to be a straw hat, that means I can't ever give up. So get moving, Kia.

Going slowly, she grabbed her bleeding arm with her other hand, and moved her good ankle out in front of her body. Hissing a gasp as she moved the rest of herself, she decided it was only nearly as bad as she thought it would be. So, she did it again. And again, ignoring the pain.

"AND SHE'S MOVING! SHE DOESN'T LOOK LIKE SHE CAN… BUT SHE'S MOVING!"

"KIA!" Her crew shouted from the sidelines, though she couldn't hear them.

She continued to move until she saw Zoro and Sanji looking up at her, and she finally let herself fall to her knees.

"Kia… you… okay?" Zoro asked haltingly.

"I'll kill them… for hurt… ing… you," Sanji added, and she could see they were in a huge amount of pain.

"This?" she asked, her smile not able to make more than a smirk, and her chuckle turning into a cough and a groan of pain. "This is nothin." She looked back and forth between them. "Now… we gonna win this, or what?" She gave them an actual smile this time, and they both got angry as her cut lip started bleeding again. "I can tell everyone that you only worked together because I made you," she suggested.

"Ten seconds," Zoro offered.

"Fine," Sanji wheezed.

"I want in," Kia said, her voice like steel. "I'm a straw hat pirate, so I can't give up."

"UH-OH! OUR BOSS HAS JUST ORDERED THE FAMOUS MONSTER BURGER!"

They stood up as the crowd started cheering, and the three of them faced off against the monsters as they pulled out more weapons.

"Grind 'em all up like burger meat…" Hamburg sang as he pounded two large metal clubs on the ground.

"Slice 'em like pickles, sour or sweet," Pickles continued as he swung dual swords.

"What are the toppings?" the crowd shouted in unison, and the straw hats on the field glanced over with a roll of their eyes.

"Lettuce and mushrooms and some fine yellow cheese…" Hamburg replied in song.

"Smashed between some big pans, now what do I see?" Big Pan added.

"A monster burger for me to eat!" the three of them finished.

"I'm sure the ref sees nothing," Kia muttered, but loud enough for the others to hear.

"I've got the sword guy," Zoro said flatly.

"I'll get the clubs," Sanji replied. "I'm going to kick him into that big guy's pans."

"If we can stun the big guy, we can pull him over, like we planned before," Kia added.

"I can't get high enough," Zoro mumbled.

"Not on your own, no, but a wicked kick boost from Sanji will fly you up there," she replied. "I'm going to run interference, and disarm who I can, okay?"

They both gave her slight nods.

"I'm sorry I'm not strong enough to do more," she said in a small voice.

"Yet," Zoro added.

"But soon," Sanji tacked on.

"Here they come," she said, her smile bigger, even though it pained her.

"Cooking battle huh?" Sanji said with a smirk to Kia, and then he took off. It took only moments, but with a flurry of kicks, he sent Hamburg flying into Big Pan's pans.

"I'll slice you for that!" Pickles shouted, and Zoro appeared in front of him.

"No sword style… Tastumaki!"

Kia moved in, seeing Hamburg was definitely out cold, she threw his clubs away and then she went straight for Big Pan's legs. As Pickles stopped spinning- and cutting his teammate to ribbons, he fell to the ground where Kia was waiting. She executed a thrust like she had practiced with her escrima sticks, slamming Pickle's wrist with her hand causing him to drop a sword, which she caught.

She then gave a high kick which made her rethink her injuries- but she knocked his other sword away. At the same time, Sanji gave a kick to Big Pan, keeping him upright.

She tossed both swords away from the field, as Sanji ran over and kicked him effortlessly- straight into the referee.

"Best kick ever!" she shouted, giving Sanji a shoulder to brace himself for his kick even as Zoro came running up.

"HERE THEY GO, FIGHTING AGAIN?!" the announcer shouted.

Kia saw Zoro smirk as he leaped, and Sanji caught him on his leg before kicking up toward Big Pan's face. He and Kia helped keep each other upright as they watched Zoro soar, grabbing onto the fishman's giant lips and hauling him off his feet and into the goal.

"ALL RIGHT!" the Straw Hats on the field and the sideline shouted in unison.

"GOAL, GOAL, GOOOAAALLL!" Itomimizu shouted and not long after the final whistle blew.

Kia and Sanji waited until Zoro joined them, and the two guys helped her hobble off the field. "I'm sorry… I think I made my ankle worse," she said, and they just shook their heads at her, before they started squabbling again.

"Those guys are awesome!" she heard from a foxy pirate.

"I want to be strong like them!"

"No wonder they all want her, she's amazing!"

The last one made her embarrassed, but she just rolled with it. She smiled and moved her arms to grab onto Luffy as he came running out to them.

"Good job you guys, that was so cool! I just knew you could do it!"

"Feh-feh-feh!" Foxy laughed as he moved in. "You just got lucky that's all!" he said angrily.

"Please, what did you think would happen?" Luffy boasted. "Like our guys would lose to you!"

"There's no way you'll beat us in the next round!" Foxy retorted, "so it doesn't matter!" turning around and going back to his crew.

Luffy and Kia laughed as Sanji did a strange dance in front of Nami and Robin, while Usopp slapped Zoro for scaring him. Luffy offered his back, and Kia took it, getting a ride the rest of the way off the field.