One More Step Into the Arena!

"It is time," Maria thought as she anxiously began shadowboxing in the locker room. She fired random punches into the air as she loosened her body up and prepared for the next fight and possibly her last fight in the URA. They were going to be leaving soon and that would be it...or should it? She stopped punching the air as her arms draped down to her side. Trevor's offer jumped back to the front of her mind.

Trevor was offering her an extended stay here to fight in the arena as much as she wanted. She'd be doing it to save Mikoto and the rest of the crew, of course, but there was that benefit there for her as well. It was a proposition she hadn't fully considered until now. She had ignored it, but now it was forced to the front of her brain as she thought about staying around and continuing to fight. The fast track to being dubbed the strongest...not to mention being a Shichibukai's crew member also carried a bit of heft, she'd become famous just for that reason.

Then again the Shichibukai title would be revoked in a matter of days when the Marines attacked...but Trevor would certainly not be brought down. It was impossible for him to be defeated; the Marines had to know that. He'd kill them and escape, continue the URA somewhere else or just go out on a killing spree.

"Thinking about me are we?" asked Trevor as he waltzed in to the room. Maria turned around and took up a fighting stance. Trevor laughed. "Nice try, but you can't hide it. I didn't select you because you were a strong fighter; I wanted you because you are a fighter! Your spirit! You were thinking about my offer and the endless fights!" Maria sighed it was apparent that Melanie didn't take him down, so it was just more troublesome for her to think about it.

Maria shook her head briefly, "I'm getting ready for a fight, so I'd appreciate it if you left, okay?" Maria returned to her practice, once more her fists flew out from her side and made several quick and powerful punches forward. Trevor laughed once more as he walked around her, watching her fine movements. "What?!" she shouted taking a step forward and forming a fist.

"Just wondering if you would be interested in my offer if I upped the stakes?" asked Trevor. Maria lowered her fists and looked at him. "I noticed you got an interesting new companion...a Simon Honeydew or something? I'll give you three separate offers; both equally promising and you can choose either offer you want. Option A, and the offer I think you'll take, I'll release Simon's son along with Mikoto and the rest of the crew goes free. Or Option B...I kill Simon. And then when his son inherits his fortune, I'll have him redirect all of his fortune to us...to you. And you become rich!"

Maria turned around once more about to punch him with all of her force about to kill him, but Trevor dodged to the side and was instantly up in her face. "Perhaps Option C is the one for you. You don't join me. You continue to bet the life of all of your crew members on the chance you win. You win and I may release Mikoto after a discussion or a bloodshed, BUT! I definitely kill Simon's son." Maria's eyes went wide as she turned around and faced Trevor. "I won't kill Mikoto because he's precious to me, too. However, Simon's son's a piece of trash killing him is like killing an insect."

"What about the Marines?" asked Maria with a smile. He thought he had the entire scenario all planned out, but he didn't know about the Marines.

"What about my Shichibukai title being revoked? About the Buster Call to come?" asked Trevor. Maria was shocked at the fact he had apparent knowledge of both of these two things. Seeing her confusion, Trevor explained, "all of these pirates here prime for the plucking. A massive blood bath? Does this sound like something that interests me? Of course, it does! It's my plan! I suggested it to a Marine, I have on payroll, and he suggested it to the higher ups and boom! Everything kicks into action! I just needed to act extra bad and kill a few Marines! I'll get away Scot-free by following my plan to the tee and if you accept my offer so will your crew...the rest of the pirates will all meet horrible, bloody, and unne-"

"STOP!" shouted Maria pushing Trevor away and running past him. Trevor was gleefully smiling as he watched her rush past him. She ran past him and into the arena, it was just pure coincidence that the last fight had just finished, but Trevor ignored it. She was going to accept it...imagine having him hunt you down the rest of your life just because you didn't accept his offer. It was a scary thought that even chilled his bones. He left her to contemplate it, he'd come again after the fight.

Mashiba was still in the ring when Maria entered the big hall. He was watching the URA medics cart his last opponent out of the ring and he remained standing there like a cold statue, his watchful gaze never leaving them once. He wasn't smiling like Maria imagined he would be, but he wasn't crying for the life he had probably just taken, he was just standing there with a cold and uninterested face. Come to think of it, he didn't particularly smile when he was about to kill Hiro-Shu, if anything it was more of a soldier doing his duty. A bored and uninterested grimace was on his face.

Finally, he seemed to take notice of Maria. He didn't wave or frown at her, he looked over at her and then turned his head away to face Karasu, who was eagerly watching his fight. Karasu smiled and shrugged at him. Mashiba gaze flickered back over to Maria, but he didn't say or do anything, except turn around and leave. His interest in her was minimal, he was just here because his boss told him to.

Maria shook her head and decided to adopt a similar nonchalant attitude towards him for now. Her attention was just on her next opponent, who should be climbing into the ring now.

Her jaw dropped as her opponent...or to be more precisely opponents entered the ring. Three little kids waving and jumping around in the ring like it was some play place danced about and were having generally a good time looking around and goofing off. She was going to be fighting three kids?! What kind of sick joke was that?

"Is this what the URA has been reduced to?" asked Maria directly assaulting the Longarm announcer with her voice. He took a step back and shrugged. He was completely clueless about this turn of events and began cycling through some papers to find some explanation finally he found it.

"It appears that this trio had enlisted earlier under on guise...they had all stood on top of each other's shoulders and wore a robe and it managed to fool the URA attendee..." the Longarm trailed off ashamed that that trick had managed to work on one of their staff members. "They were revealed during the first fight, but due to the crowd's immense reaction a ruling was made that allowed the three of them to continue to fight."

"How about I kick your ass instead!" shouted Maria getting worked-up over the fact that they had not only been idiots enough to be fooled by three kids, but now she was going to have to discipline them?! She was a pirate not babysitter! She had no desire to be surrounded by these three kids. The Longarm shied away, but he didn't take back his declaration and demanded that the fight continue according the URA guidelines.

"Acrobat Technique! Rubber Ball Launch!" shouted one of the kids as he pulled out a large rubber ball that was at least as big as he was. He jumped up and onto the ball, and almost immediately the rubber ball snapped back and forced Jin into the air. Maria looked up and tried to brace herself for the incoming aerial attack.

"Acrobat Technique! Under Hand Knuckle!" one of the other kids bent his body back, under it went under his own legs, charging in this comedic fashion. Finally he reached out and fired a punch at Maria aiming low. Maria dodged backwards avoiding this attack, but as soon as her attention shifted to this kid, the first kid came crashing down, landing a powerful frontal kick to Maria's forehead and forcing her back.

"Crap!" muttered Maria as she stumbled back, her head already starting to bleed from the attack. The kid probably wasn't that strong, but he managed to put all of his weight behind his knee and drive it into her skull. It was a ridiculous attack. Her attention had been so totally divided between the two, she couldn't possibly block both attacks...wait, there was a third kid, wasn't there? She was gone.

"Acrobat Technique! Over Head Spin!" A powerful kick recoiled forward and smashed itself into the back of Maria's head causing her to stumble forward again. Even worse due to the power and placement of the kick gave Maria a slight amount of blindness in the center of her vision. She backed up and looked at her opponents this time, for the first time she decided to take them seriously.

All three were kids probably only thirteen, maybe even twelve! The first one wore a black and green hat that was tightly bound to his head and wore a similarly colored Chinese robe. His pants were mostly hidden by the robe, but you could tell it was the same color as his robe. He was the one that attacked using the Rubber Ball and according to the announcer was named Jiz.

The other boy, the one who tried to hit her with that weird contortionist blow, had a brown bowl cut for a hairdo and brown eyes. His Chinese robe was colored tan with brown trimmings and it didn't have any sleeves. It was kept close due to several strings stretched all the way around it. The announcer called him Tin.

The last one was a girl and had delivered the spinning kick to the back of Maria's head. She had long hair that was styled into a braid, but a hat covered most of it. She wore a pink kunoichi-like garb that covered most of her body. She was called Aki by the announcer. So, those were the three kids Maria had to beat...Jiz, Tin, and Aki. She felt kind of ridiculous fighting with three kids, but she'd feel even worse if she lost to the three of them. She breathed deeply and took a stance ready to intercept all three of them.

Jiz jumped up and struck pose while on his ball just like a little kid would do... "let's go! Acrobat Technique! Tightrope Battle Ground!" He pulled out several lines of heavy rope and began tossing them in every direction, they tied themselves up and around several poles in the URA and soon enough the entire arena was covered in almost a dome of tightropes.

Maria charged forward, they had already gotten the first move in and even changed the battle field into something more favorable to them, she wasn't about to let them get another move in on her. She charged at Tin, she figured it would be a little bit more favorable to her to take on a boy at least that was she wouldn't be insulted for attacking a little girl. "Acrobat Technique! Flexible Choice All Side Defense!" The young boy once more began to randomly contort his body into weird shapes. Maria fired a punch for where he opponent's head should be, but instead only caught a padded knee. A second punch came crashing towards his shin, but instead just swept into a padded elbow. An ax kick from Maria came crashing down to where his shoulder should be, but was met with an open palm. His entire body was contorted into a weird shape so any and all of her practiced and well-honed moves to a weak area were useless against him. His defense defied the human body. It looked like it wouldn't be an easy match just because they were kids.

You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

Yes, the horrible pun is intended.

...Yeah, yeah, yeah...I feel horrible about using kids in a battle to the death tournament, but I was having trouble finding an opponent worthy of finding Maria. One of them didn't seem right for the URA, another one refused to fight women, and most people use weapons and that goes against the One Piece rule. So, Maria got stuck fighting three young kids...pretty darn strong kids though.

Also, Jiz, Tin, and Aki were all submitted by M-Rated Writer.

Finally if I may direct your attention to my profile. I got a new poll up. Do you think Mikoto should become a Shichibukai? I have already made up my decision as to whether or not he will, but I think it will be nice to see the reader's opinions.