There's Winners...
And Then There's Losers
The horrible realization had just sunk in. The chances of the crew winning this match had just taken a turn for the worse. Their opponent was huge, impressively so and incredibly strong. Not even a bead of sweat formed on his brow as he slowly turned his head left to right, looking for his 'boss'. The other man the crew had had the distinct pleasure of running into at Zenith Gaol came up to him, "over here brother." The two of them obviously weren't related by blood, but their relationship definitely resembled brothers. The bigger one's face lit up as he saw the guy smoking the Eisen Dial cigars and he followed him all the way over to the other side of the field, dropping the large weight onto the furthest side of the field away from both Shane's crew (who were currently pushing their weight deeper over) as well as Mikoto's crew who were flabbergasted by the sight.
"Ignore him and just try to get to the other side," shouted Ridley, "they are relying on that guy to move the weights if you can just stop him then they are sunk!" Ridley bit his fingernails as he watched his crew take their position. He knew they were already in trouble that much was obvious, but to think that they had somebody so powerful and so well-armed for this event on their side it was almost unbelievable that it wasn't fixed for them…no, they probably fixed their crew around the Davy Back Fight. Unlike their crew Kraven's crew had obviously been around the block once or twice, this probably wasn't the first Davy Back Fight they had gotten themselves involved in. Their crew was probably designed to reflect that. Crew size, charisma, experience…everything was at ungodly levels compared to theirs. Ridley sighed and tried to relax, but he already knew what would happen if they lose…and if that did happen they would be sunk faster than fast. "We need to win," he muttered to himself, "we need to win." No amount of strategizing could compare against experience, that was what won Davy Back Fights and that was Mikoto's ultimate weakness.
Mikoto was still fairly new to the Grand Line, he had only been a pirate for just about a year. He had managed to suppress his lack of experience with his speed and instincts, but that was his only saving grace. He could learn quickly, take in his opponent's power levels and adapt at a good pace, too…but the fact that he had to adapt to his opponents was bad. He needed to develop further to become a real threat. Build-up the foundation and work your way up from there…that was what Mikoto lacked…the bottom line for all fighters…a solid amount of experience. He had fought Trevor, Abel, Taisho, and Apollo and Ridley had hoped that would help him out, but the sea was too vast to hope to become complete after just four fights…Karasu was strong, well-versed in what a pirate needed and he still lost in the end. This wouldn't be a fight like the others, this wouldn't be seeing if Mikoto could win against his opponent…this would be seeing if Mikoto could make it on the Grand Line. And honestly, if Ridley had to rate their chances…he would say the odds were 7:3…in favor of them losing, it would probably turn out even worse if Kraven was skilled as Ridley thought…there was one person on their crew that they needed to keep no matter what…if Kraven took him…it was game over.
"Ridley's right," said Enma as he took his stance, "if we just take out the big guy then our odds probably will increase dramatically, okay?" Enma looked over at Shane's group to see what they were thinking, they had tuckered themselves out during the first four minutes trying to move the weight, but they were using the last minute of free time to rest up and recover. If they worked together than even Kraven's giant didn't stand a chance. The rest of the crew nodded and the crew got ready. Mikoto and Aaron both went into similar leg stretches knowing they would be counted on taking the early blows, Zesiro and Hiro-Shu moved back as both of them would probably be stuck with guarding the weight while Enma would have to figure out the big guy's weakness. Suddenly the bell rang, taking away all of the tension and releasing the entire crew into a massive charge…everybody booked it towards the opposing forces weights…with Shane's weight being basically ignored.
"Hey, weaklings!" shouted the Fishman from Shane's crew as he bolted up and began racing adjacent to Mikoto and Aaron with Aaron starting to pull a little further ahead. "What do you say I show you what I can do, huh? Just try and keep from wetting your pants!" The Fishman bolted upward, rushing further ahead of the two of them, apparently choosing to pour it on now rather than wait. Mikoto and Aaron shared a similar look, telling everybody that they had no idea who that guy was despite the fact that he was the Fishman Mikoto had knocked out cold earlier. The Fishman jumped into the air with surprising ease, he soared above his opponent's head and twisted around, launching a powerful downwards kick into goliath's head. The big guy stumbled for a second, but he quickly recovered. "Crap! Its all because I can't use my brass knuckles, oh, well! I'll still take Mr. Over-Compensating down!" He rushed forward, moving all the faster with his own smack talk compelling him. He launched several powerful, blows straight forward, rushing into the guy's incredibly large back like it was an oversized punching bag. "How do you like that!?" he said as he finished up his rush with an incredible punch. The larger than life monster stumbled for a split second, but quickly resumed his regular slightly slow pace.
"My brother there, Azu, is not your typical person as I'm sure you can tell," said the man smoking the cigar as the iron cloud wafted out of it and wrapped itself around the Fishman, Shino…a Fishman worth 45 million, which were poor men's bucks compared to his captain's bounty, but he was still strong in his own right. The man with the cigar, however, obviously outclassed him. "He was born with exceptional physical prowess, including an insane recovery rate and even crazier power. He can't be stopped unless you hit him with a big blow straight from the get-go…these small attacks of yours are only getting his engines going." Shino cursed, it was because he wasn't allowed to use his brass knuckles! Those things generally amplified his strength ten times its original amount…but still to meet a human whose strength completely outmatches anything natural was still impressive. Suddenly the man with the cigar threw the Fishman out of the way and brought his iron cloud back in front of his face just in time to be met with a powerful kick to his iron cloud shield.
"That's my teammate you are manhandling," said Dango, the other much bigger Fishman from Shane's crew as he brought his shell smashing into the iron guard and nearly blowing it open a feat Zesiro couldn't quite do even with his swords. The man with the cigar backed off for a second. He was a man worth 80 million, slightly higher than Dango's own bounty of 67 million, the man with the cigar was 'Iron Chain Smoker' Gora. This definitely wasn't going to be the quickest fight of the day. However, the rest of the crew was thankful as that meant that those two would be busy for the rest of the game. The giant continued to bulldoze his way down the center field.
"Hey!" shouted Shino as he looked over to the referee, "I thought you said weapons weren't allowed! What the hell does that make the cigar than!" The referee sighed and picked up a rule book.
"This book contains all rules concerning the Davy Back Fight, including a list of weapons prohibited for each fight. Sadly, its text remains continuously being updated, but this is the most up to date version available. His Eisen Cigar is would qualify as a Dial-Based weapon, however, the book makes a case that states that certain Dial-Based items like Dial Skates and his Eisen Cigar qualify as accessories not weapons and therefore are allowed, but if they are damaged replacements may not be used." Shino growled, they knew of such a rule and probably gave that Goro guy the Eisen Cigar knowing that.
"I say we just beat up the referee," mentioned Maria with a smile on her face. But the referee seemed to ignore her, "well, anyways, if I was in that field I would've down beat that giant down." Ridley smiled, hoping she could keep that spirit and strength up all the way through the next fight. Ridley had a feeling she would need it. Besides the rule book also made a special case that allowed artificial limbs like Maria's so they had to be thankful for that.
The goliath of a man was bolting towards the Infinity Pirate's weight. Hiro-Shu and Zesiro remained at the ready to counter it…although the Fishman was feeling a little uneasy without his swords especially after seeing his fellow Fishman warrior fail. "Fists of Iron! Iguko's Rage!" Hiro-Shu let a single iron covered punch echo out, aiming for the giant's shin bone, knowing full well that that was probably the giant's greatest weakness, take out the legs of any warrior and you could stop them from moving forward and that was all that was necessary here. However, suddenly the giant jetted, twisting its body and bolting around Hiro-Shu and Zesiro, changing its path completely.
"And that spectators is Azu's greatest technique, the Feint! A technique he uses when he heads at full-blast for one weight, but suddenly changes direction, a move that is easily accomplishable for him!" It was the announcer that was talking now, he didn't give too much commentary, after all Kraven's crew didn't much care for the showmanship of this thing, they were just interested in complete and total domination of their opponents. The crew stayed standing still for a little while longer watching it as they tried to put it together. Azu didn't use his feet for a sudden change of direction, no…he used his arms. He slammed one arm into the ground and used that as a pivot. It was a technique only he could probably use. He bolted down the field, this time heading at full-speed for Shane's weight. "And now we can see that Azu's true target was none other than Shane's flag! Eliminating the team with the most substitutes first, what a truly brilliant stratagem!"
"Is that how a gentleman acts?" asked the sole defender of their weight, "feints going after one team and heads after the other? No, a gentleman…a samurai would declare his intentions first and act them without any hesitation." The man turned around to completely face Azu. To any swordsman fanatic, they would've recognized him, Reymundo Takeshi, the carrier of the Hakobi-Shi…whose bounty poster reads 'The Next Samurai' Wanted Dead or Alive: 113 Million Belies. "And it is my intention to take you out!" The man jumped into the air, coating his right leg with Haki and swinging his entire weight around, smashing it into the side of Azu's head and blowing him back quite a few feet considering his size. All of Kraven's pirates, except Kraven himself, gasped, watching their titan actually be forced back by one attack.
"Impulse: Air Waves!" shouted Aaron, flipping around and launching a downwards kick straight into Azu's skull, sending the rest of the shockwave shooting down his spine. The real strength behind Aaron's attack was in utilizing his speed, turning all of his momentum from running into a devastating attack. Azu straightened out for a second, continuing to stumble back, but it was obvious that he hadn't lost consciousness nor was he out for the count yet. However, Mikoto intended to correct that. Mikoto rushed in, bolting towards the giant using his regular incredible speed Mikoto closed the distance, tightened his fists and sent an incredible barrage forward.
"Wolf Rush!" Mikoto fired again and again, shooting a machine gun number of punches into Azu's gut, each one faster than the last. Azu's body was shuddered back, he was slowly being pushed back with each blow. Finally Azu managed to be knocked back a little further, Mikoto readied himself for a big blow, jumping into the air, flipping around and angling his kick downwards in a manner similar to Aaron's attack, but he was stopped short as Azu's hands clasped in front of him, squeezing the life out of Mikoto.
Azus voice came over, incredibly mono-toned and almost slow. "Space…Pass…" moaned Azu as he brought Mikoto down, nearly onto the ground before slinging his arms up using his entire body to send the captain flying upwards.
"Oh!" shouted the announcer as his body nearly fell backwards like a swoon, "it is the famous Azu Space Pass! Generally used to throw the weights from one end of the field to the other, it can also be used on people using his entirely stout build and basically catapulting his opponent out of the way and into even the outer reaches of outer space. It looks like Mikoto will be the first coyote in outer space!" Azu lifted his arm and slowly swung his arm from side-to-side as if he was accepting an award…it looked fairly odd coming from a monster as big as he was. However, more impressive than his toss was the fact that he seemed to be already in better spirits as if the last few hits didn't even faze him as if to prove that, he whipped his body around picking up one of the Shane's crew members and once more catapulting him into the air. "And another one!" Azu turned around, looking at Reymundo the man who started the horrible hitting fest on his body and the massive monster's eyes glinted with an idea. He whipped his large arm around, scooping both Reymundo and the weight up with one swing. "And here it is Azu's third and most ego-destroying attack! The Smash Pass!"
"Smash…Pass…" moaned Azu as he continued to whip his body around, lifting the small weight only a few inches above the ground and swatting both it and Reymundo across the field like a hockey puck. Unlike before Reymundo could do nothing to stop this awkward pass and could only resign himself to being toyed around like a play thing, undoubtedly if he had his swords or if this was an actual fight he may actually be able to do something about it.
"And the Smash Pass is received by the rest of Kraven's crew!" shouted the announcer looking over at the end of the field were three guys had been on receiving end of the devastating smash pass. They had been knocked around like bowling pins, but they stopped the Smash Pass in the goal area…in other words Shane's 'flag' had been captured. "The Dark Knight Pirates are out!" Shane's crew and the Infinity Pirates couldn't believe their eyes, a second opening in the line-up had turned into this. The monster was unstoppable! He breathed out deeply as he turned back around and focused on the Infinity Pirate's flag, his entire attention narrowing in on that one weight. Zesiro cracked his knuckles and looked up at it. The last combination of blows proved that the beast could be taken down and that he could feel pain. Zesiro would just have to pound it in even harder than the last few blows. Hiro-Shu nodded as the duo rushed in, Enma quickly joined to assist them in taking down the hulking brute, meanwhile Aaron waited for Mikoto to come back down as someone would have to catch the poor guy.
Hiro-Shu bolted forward in front of Zesiro, skidding to a halt and bringing his hands out offering Zesiro a step. Zesiro stepped into Hiro-Shu's hands and immediately Hiro-Shu catapulted the shark up and into the air to be on equal footing with the giant. Zesiro whipped his fist down and pounded it into the giant, knocking his head down and causing the giant to lean over, which put the giant's head perfectly on level with Hiro-Shu. Hiro-Shu whipped around, firing a forward punch and sending the giant tumbling head over heels backwards. The massive monster, slammed his foot down, managing to catch himself once more before he suffered any real debilitating damages. Zesiro and Hiro-Shu charged forward again, ready to exchange blows with their target. Two heads were indeed better than one. Zesiro's attacks would pound into the monster's gut and before his inhuman healing abilities could take place Hiro-Shu's punches would echo through his bones, all the while Enma's attacks would slowly compliment the attacking combinations, of course, Enma couldn't use his bone spear so the problem slowly progressed into something else. It seemed problematic for the entire crew that this giant was still standing, but he proved himself to be a more than capable fighter in the end. It was true they probably relied on him for Space Pass and Smash Pass, but when it came to taking a beating, his power was unparallel. He was even doling out his own hits in the process. Finally the fight ended, it had taken all three of them, but the giant finally seemed to relent, his punches had slowed down and he was huffing and puffing. All three of them wound up and launched a finally combined punch for the man's face, blowing him back and down. "Finally," breathed Zesiro, "now they can no longer use that giant to score…"
"YOU IDIOTS!" shouted Ridley over the playing field. They were too caught up in their own little fantasy that they hadn't been paying any attention to him.
"AND THE 'GHOST HOOK' PIRATES WIN IT!" screamed the announcer into the microphone. The three of them turned around, including Aaron who had finally taken his eyes off of the sky to notice that the other four men on Kraven's side had managed to drag their weight over to their side of the field while they were all busy! "In other words the Kraven now has the ability to select any member from the Infinity Pirates…as soon as their captain returns from orbit." Aaron lifted his head back up and decided to continue his wait for Mikoto, who had still not fallen back down from his little…er, trip.
First Pick
Uh...was really ho-humming uploading this today I'm trying to squeeze it out, but I'm really short on time...so have a good day!