Racing Against the Superior

Half of the crew was gathered on the boarding plank and the other half on the shore just next to it. The Dark Knight Pirates were doing the same just a little further down at their ship. The two halves of the crew were going to be taking the Infinity Pirates' ship. As a kind of furthered bluff. They wanted to keep themselves completely untouched for as long as possible, hoisting the flag and riding the legendary ship should've been enough of one.

That meant Mikoto and the rest of them were going to be heading down the line as far as possible without their ship, but it was something they had to do. And they were thankful for the chance. They would just swallow their little pride and make it all the way. It was their best bet once more. An awkward gamble was their bet.

"We'll meet up once again," Mikoto stated reaching his arm forward and into the middle of the group, "we'll see each other once more at Marjerois. That's our meeting spot, the New World. With any luck everything will be better after this."

"Our crew has sailed into worse messes then this," added on Ridley, adding his hand to Mikoto's, "and we've come out unscathed time and time again."

"No telling what problems will come our way while we are separated," Sage stated with a smile, "but we'll always be together."

"We'll just do it as always. Only this time, we'll be doing twice as much," chuckled Zesiro.

"There's a lot we'll need to get done," Hiro-Shu nodded, "We'll do twice as much, get twice as much done, and probably get in twice as much trouble."

"Sounds like fun," Enma laughed, "maybe our bounties will double."

"And we'll draw twice as much as fights," Maria pointed out, "everything we'll get done will probably come with a lot of them. We're going to do our best, though?"

"Heck, that's all we need to do," Rosa stated with a wide smile.

"Then let's get her done," Aaron joined in, throwing his hand on top of the pile, "when we're done with this women'll be swarming to my side."

"To changes," everybody stated quietly barely lifting their hands up before returning them back to start. "To the New World," they stated lifting it a little higher and a little bit faster. "To the future," higher now and even faster, then they all shared the same look as they glanced between each other, "TO THE INFINITY PIRATES!" They threw their arms up and into the air and finally split up, each half of the crew going to their respective ship.

"We'll meet up in the New World, huh?" asked Zesiro as he walked towards the new ship alongside Mikoto before slowly nodding, "you're right about that. One way or another we'll definitely meet up in a new world. Let's hope it is one we are creating with our own two hands."

"A new world is on the horizon and we're heading to it, I suppose that's one nice way to look at it," Ridley muttered, "but we could very well be heading to our deaths. Or worse."

"Hey, Mikoto!" shouted Aaron as he came up behind them and stood his ground, causing the entire crew to turn around and face him, wondering what it could possibly be he wanted to bring up with them. While its true that he had no particular reason to obey them, since he wasn't an official crew member, but in that case they had no reason to give him a ride off of the island.

The entire crew stopped in their tracks and even Shane pulled himself away from his crew to check, although his crew naturally followed to check up on things themselves. If a fight was going to break out, they wanted to be aware of it. They had heard of certain crew members getting a swelled head after they separated from their captain, but never anything about it happening this fast.

"Me and you," Aaron stated as he walked up to Mikoto, "are going to race. Now."

"Race?" Mikoto baulked as he took a step back, "I appreciate the offer, but I'm not really in the mood for it all things considered.

"You had a problem with me earlier on this island, remember?" Aaron asked as he walked up to Mikoto and pressed his chest against Mikoto's. They were about the same size if not, perhaps Aaron was just a little bit taller, but if Mikoto transformed into his hybrid form things would've stay that way. "As a Marine and as a pirate I've learned the best way to get your intentions heard is to fight with someone and let them hear your fists. But let's face it, between me and you it has to be a battle of the legs."

"Okay," stated Mikoto as he got up and walked over towards his nakama. Mikoto slowly nodded and he approached his friend, however he was surprised when Ridley stepped in front of Mikoto and held him back.

"Believe it or not Mikoto he insulted you when you guys got in a fight and ran out on you," Ridley pointed, "I'll admit it I probably won't have the most popular opinion right here and now. But I think we should have to raise the stakes for you. If you lose, you leave."

"Ridley, that's a little extreme don't you think?" muttered Sage as she moved towards them. She wasn't happy about how things were heading, but Ridley had been right about these types of things before. If it came down to delivering a cruel decision it was indeed his specialty.

"In terms of ability both his and Mikoto's are the same as Aaron just basically put, so in other words if he's slower than Mikoto we don't really need him, do we? So here's my solution if Aaron is too slow we don't need him and he won't be joining us."

"Okay," stated Mikoto causing everybody there to pause and look him up and down. They weren't really expecting Mikoto to agree so readily. He had either matured as a captain or his opinion was the same as Ridley's. Aaron had insulted him, they didn't need a second speed-star, if Aaron wasn't faster than Mikoto they didn't need him.

"I'll accept," agreed Aaron stepping right up to the plate. Mikoto smiled causing the two of them to nod and head out further down the line. "It'll just be a race around the island, whoever can make a complete loop around the island first wins."

Aaron and Mikoto both shifted down into a racing position ready to blast off, causing the rest of the two crews to begin to gather around. A quiet murmur had arisen. They were all interested into this complete and total craziness. It would be a test of speed between two people that were undoubtedly amongst the fastest in the world. Whether or not there was a faster person out there was debatable, but it would come down to the point where they would without a doubt settle the fastest one here and now.

"Who wants to place a bet?" asked Ridley as he lifted his arms up and into the air causing a lot of people to give him a dirty look. First he suggested that Aaron put his status as an Infinity Pirate on the line and then he suggested that they placed bets on him. While most of them thought of such a thing was a little men, quite a few of them couldn't help, but make a bet or form the odds in their heads.

"You're a betting man?" asked Zesiro asked as he came up to Enma as he talked it over with Ridley.

Enma smirked and slowly nodded. "I prefer card games, but at the same moment anybody not fully interest in this mess doesn't know quality races. I wanted to place my bets here and now, mostly because I think it would make things a little more interested. I want to see how this match will end and I want to have a little bit of my own soul along for the ride."

Zesiro supposed he understood, but it seemed like there should be enough along for the ride already. After all Aaron was there nakama one way or another. He never officially joined, but he's lent his help to enough fights already. They doubted they would just turn their backs to him. Then again Ridley was serious and Mikoto wasn't one to joke around about this stuff.

They both got set to the starting line and Ridley quickly dragged his foot across the ground to form a dirt line. "This is the finish line, you're job will be simply to cross it," Ridley joked as he took a few steps away. "If you cross it a few seconds after your opponent it'll be the difference between life and death, heaven and hell. In other words, first and second.

"Nobody cares about the second fastest person in the world, I'm sorry to say, the second most talented, the second strongest, the second richest, in this world you're either number one or you're a zero," Ridley stated, either trying to psych them up or psych them out. But however, his words hit home. It was true. You needed to be the best.

"Hey, you got a gun on your crew or something?" Ridley asked Shane causing him to raise an eyebrow. He didn't understand why this guy was asking or why they needed one, but Shane definitely wasn't going to offer up an answer without a proper explanation.

Ridley sighed and shrugged, "we need something real official to declare the start. After all I mean this is basically a challenge for the greatest. If we were having a wrestling match I'd demand a bell."

Shane nodded towards one of his crew members, who produced a gun and quickly fired a shot into the air. While Ridley didn't mean to make it all so suddenly, he would've preferred a couple of more seconds, but Mikoto and Aaron didn't seem to be bothered at all. They both set out in the same split second. It was like an explosion occurred at their feet.

It was hard to see who took the initial early win, but Ridley would bet on Mikoto. It wasn't a matter of speed or technique that made Ridley decide on that, it was much simpler. Ridley decided on such a decision because of Mikoto's instincts, his reflexes were much sharper than Aaron's.

When they heard the gunshot to the time the brain recognized it to the point where their body responded, all of this had to occur before they started off the race. If Ridley was going to bet on it this is the difference that would decide on the match. Mikoto's reflexes were a split second better than Aaron's. In terms of speed there was only three possible outcomes. Mikoto was faster, they were the same speed, or Aaron was faster. If the first two were true than that meant Mikoto would win this race now that he had a split-second lead.

A straight-up battle of speed would've been preferable, but Ridley supposed it was a case of apples and oranges. Like he stated he wanted somebody FASTER than Mikoto, not as fast or slower. So a race was the best way to check the difference. Everything had been calculated for Ridley. Now the only problem was Mikoto's own knowledge and experience, a shut out was likely.

A split second difference of speed could be a couple of feet and if you lead by that much you could get in front of your opponent and start blocking them off. Even if Aaron got the chance to accelerate now the only thing Mikoto had to do to stop it was get in his way, step slightly to the left or right and Aaron's path would be blocked. This match had fallen completely into Mikoto's hands.

Ridley would say it once more. He wanted someone FASTER than Mikoto. He wanted someone who could outdo him in every way, shape and form in terms of speed. He wanted Aaron to show it all off right now to blast past Mikoto and go zooming on by without the slightest hesitation to his steps. He wanted Aaron to move three steps forward faster than Mikoto could move one step left or right.

Ridley was exactly correct. No matter which way Aaron made his slight movement Mikoto managed to stay in front of him, as if cursing Aaron to forever stare at his back. Even if Aaron was indeed faster than Mikoto it wouldn't matter. Mikoto's Colors of Observation Haki combined with his natural instincts allowed him to completely read Aaron's moves, turning Mikoto into a verifiable wall.

The Highest Gear

So apparently times are still pretty tight in terms of having the regular free time in order to update while squeezing half a hour to just type isn't difficult, just remembering to get time to post. I'm going to try and get more on top of it.