BlueRyuu- No, no cookies. But I bet you know the movie. It's about a boy who runs around in his underwear with a guy who lives with the Bear Necessities and a guy who says he Wanna Be Like You. XD

And yes, Captain Al is STRONG. Be kinda pointless if she wasn't, no? And besides, the power of candy is unknown, no? Makes for a powerful thought-inducer.

Reza was the bomb. I was gonna make him do cool things later, but... His father's killer came into play and the guy sorta lost focus... Sucks to be me... Now I gotta find somebody else... And Argyle prolly ain't doin' too well, neither.

Anyways, here's anudder chap.

-Levanaun rot'zh keluz't-

I looked up at the man in front of me from under my hat brim, Ras'cal resting prominently on my leg as I gazed at the group that had approached us once our names were called for the next match. "So you're our next victims?"

The man chuckled, as did his crew behind him; all four looked tough, but I couldn't see any weapons on them. Always a bad sign.

"Well, you're a cocky kid. I like ya; let's be friends!"

The captain's words didn't move me in any direction at all, happy or mad. "Let's not and say we did."

He shrugged and looked behind me, his eyes lighting up. "Howsabout you, little girl? Let's be friends, close friends, if ya catch my drift..."

"STOMP-STOMP-" I sighed and, careful not to disturb Aliza, reached a hand up, catching Licone's foot as she sailed over my shoulder before I spun her around onto her other foot. She glared at me, but I ignored her and tapped Ras'cal on my knee.

"You four had better leave. It would be bad if our next fight was cancelled due to no-shows."

He smiled as he turned away, winking once at Licone before they moved toward the far door. Grimacing, I looked down at the girl sleeping in my lap and sighed.

"Captain, captain, it's time to get up."

She grunted and looked up at me sleepily, a bright smile blossoming across her face. "Hiya, Argy! We fightin' now?"

I nodded as I stood up, still cradling her in one arm as I holstered Ras'cal. "It is time to do what we came here for."

She grinned and settled in closer to me. "You're comfy, Argy. I'm stayin' here."

Shrugging, I moved up our hall, a still-steaming Licone trailing along behind me. "Sure thing, Captain."

As we emerged into the sunlight, the crowd went wild as the announcer squealed. "And here they come! This year's new tournament favorites, who've already lost one crew member to battle here and have their captain in bandages but who still haven't actually used the tall, blindfolded gunman in battle! Even the little girl behind him has fought, but this mystery warrior has only fired a couple shots this whole tournament! But will it change this battle? Because this battle, they're going up against the other newcomers, who are so far undefeated in even one match! Will this be the end for the Pirates of Doom? We're about to find out!"

Across the way, the captain of the other crew threw a kiss toward Licone, who moved up besides me and eyed him coldly. "He's my kill; you can have the rest if you want."

I shrugged. "You might have to get the others before you get him, but sure, why not."

With that, she moved toward the center of the field and I sat down on the bench, Aliza grunting from my lap.

"Why's Licky so mad at them?"

I smiled thinly. "Their leader was insulting her."

"Ohhhh." She nodded sagely. "Bad idea."

Nodding as the referee began counting down, I was surprised to see that Licone's first opponent, a thin, wiry old man, didn't offer any pre-combat insults; instead, the instant the countdown was complete, he moved, flashing to Licone's side and swinging one arm up and over his head, turning it into a mace as he did so. Licone grunted and swung one leg up, knocking the mace aside and blowing out her left boot from the impact before spinning and jump-kicking him in the chest.

The man staggered back, a slight ripple of surprise crossing his face before the deadly calm returned. Unlike the Dead Bones, however, his calm was that of a seasoned fighter; I winced as I realized that Licone was pitting sheer will and power, not to mention a raging bloodthirst, against skill and experience.

Despite that, however, she managed to avoid most of his attacks, smashing aside those that managed to come close with her feet as she wildly attempted to land a kick on her opponent, who was avoiding her attacks as deftly and with less movement necessary than her. I smirked as I realized what he was doing.

"She's wearing out, Argy." Aliza's voice was worried as I nodded.

"Her opponent's good. It looks like he's a Devil-Fruit user, too, so that's not gonna help matters."

Then the man made his move; his right hand, the mace, slammed into the ground beneath Licone's feet after he apparently missed her, then his left hand lanced out as she dodged to the side, catching her by the shirt. A smile crept across his wizened face before he spun around and flung her across the arena, smashing her into the wall. A cloud of debris erupted from the impact point, then it settled to reveal her standing, albeit panting and banged up pretty bad, in front of a crater, fury in her eyes.

"Dammit, now you made me mad!"

With that, she leaped up, planting her feet against the wall before screaming, "STOMP-STOMP ROCKET!" and kicking off against the crater, moving so fast I could barely keep up with her before she slammed feet-first into the old man, having spun around in mid-air as she flew. They flew clear across the arena, creating an even larger crater and cloud of debris before they emerged, the two of them now going at it hammer-and-tongs. The old man was clearly the better of the two, but he was also the more damaged and the oldest of the two.

His next mistake was his last; bringing both hands together, both having turned into maces, he tried to slam Licone in between them, which would definitely have shattered her ribs and killed her on the spot if she hadn't leaped up. As she came back down, she brought one leg up so it pointed straight toward the sun overhead, screaming as she came down, "STOMP-STOMP ANVIL!"

She whipped her leg down as she landed, the sheer power of the ax kick cracking the arena's already-battered surface and forming a huge crater that was slowly revealed as the debris cloud settled. Licone walked calmly out of the hole, her fists clenched together as she stared across the arena, her breathing heavy and ragged, at the captain of the other crew. The man grinned, then stepped into the combat line.

"Hiya, girly! Decided to finally be my friend, huh?"

With a hoarse cry, she took off toward him, her feet pounding the turf as she shot toward him. He smiled as she came close, then he sidestepped her charge and clotheslined her, sending her into the ground with an ugly 'boom' accompanying it. I winced as Aliza almost jumped out of my lap, screaming Licone's name. As the dust settled to reveal Licone's limp form and the sight of the captain smiling mockingly down at her, I felt the distinct taste of rage creeping into my blood.

Then the man's face went stiff, Licone's foot planted solidly in his groin area. He doubled over in pain, then she slowly got to her feet, spitting out a blob of blood as she brought her right foot back.

"EAT THIS, FRANKENSTEIN!" With that, she slammed her foot into him, sending him into the wall hard enough that, after a second, I could see light on the far side, meaning he had been knocked clean out of the arena. Across from me, I could see the two remaining members of the crew murmuring to each other and focused.

"How did she beat him?!"

"He's the greatest hand-to-hand combat master in the world, but even he has his weaknesses."

"Oh, great. Perverted thoughts of girls brought down the greatest fighter in the world. How're we gonna explain this to the bosses?"

I smirked, then Licone simply collapsed and I flashed to her side, Aliza in one arm as I gently picked up the limp body and flashed back to our bench. Aliza dropped out of my arms and was about to march out to face our next opponent, a long-haired man who was weaving strangely, but I hooked one finger in her collar as I straightened up.

"Captain, I believe it is almost my turn to fight, no? You watch Licone and make sure she doesn't get hurt by any more debris."

She looked up at me, her initial back-talk dying down as she saw my face. Nodding with a pouting expression, she moved back and sat down next to Licone, who was breathing, but had an ugly bump on the noggin that I couldn't help but worry about. We needed to finish the rest of the fights quickly so I could deal with her.

Turning to face the man, I began walking toward him, ignoring the crowd as they began roaring. Pulling Lac'sar from its holster, I checked the chamber to ensure I had a bullet there before slapping it back together and spinning the revolver once, cocking the hammer as the referee dropped his hand.

The other man began weaving back and forth, a smug look on his face. "I am the world's greatest master of misdirection! One second you'll see me, the next-" He flashed to the side, my eyes following him unnoticed behind my blindfold. "The next I'm gone! Bet you won't even land a single-"

Crack!

I looked over my barrel at his body and that of his buddy's behind him dropping to the ground, then I brought Lac'sar back and rested it on my shoulder.

"I believe that we are now down to the final match! Will my opponents please come forward so we can get this over with quickly?"

As the announcer squealed, the crowd began chanting doom, doom, doom over and over again. My eyes didn't leave the far tunnel until our opponents arrived.

First through was the Shasta girl, her four swords sheathed on her back like some sort of insect and her eyes wary as she looked me over uncomfortably. Next through was the big man, a bandage on the side of his head as he held his mace in one hand and a sandwich in the other, a broad smirk on his face. Then came the boy, spinning four knives through his fingers at the same time as he eyed me carnivorously; the final one out was the captain, her face split by a wide smirk.

"So y'all made it here! Good fer ya!" She cracked her knuckles and smiled wickedly. "Too bad you're that last one standing, kid; you look like you'd be a good addition to my crew any other time, but now ya'll hafta die."

As Shasta came forward and stood facing me, the referee came forward and began counting down. Looking at my opponent, I was surprised to find sadness in them, a tear creeping down her face.

"Why are you crying? You're about to do battle with what will soon be a legend."

"I'm crying because I'm about to die without achieving my dream." She reached back and drew her swords as the referee finished counting down and backed away hurriedly. "I wanted to be the greatest swordswoman in the world, but I will never reach it now."

"BLITZ!" The other woman's cry was loud and reverberating as the entire crew charged me, but I ignored it as Shasta silently and sadly brought her two swords down and snapped them into the hilts of the other two, drawing them as well to reveal two double-bladed swords. Setting herself, she screamed and leaped.

The entire group struck where I was standing, their attacks all coming within a half-inch of me before I hopped. The dust cloud they created with their attacks was huge, but I waited until it settled to reveal them staring at the crater where I had been with satisfaction and surprise.

"Wow," the captain muttered, her eyebrow up. "I didn't think he'd be that easy."

I smiled. "No, no, no, that wouldn't be any fun, would it?"

Their gazes, shocked and fearful, snapped upward to where I was standing on air, my expression blank. "What?!"

"Your tactics are as predictable as your movements. I see everything you do before you do it and I ain't even got your vision." Smiling as I drew my two pistols, I spun them around on my fingers. "Hope you've earned a place in Heaven, or else the fire you're about to experience is gonna haunt you for all eternity."

The captain's face turned dark. "Wrathbone Pirates, kill him! Flyway formation!"

Shasta leaped, her swords glinting in the sunlight as she spun them around herself to gain momentum. She nearly cut me, but I kicked away from her, sliding along and upward through the air as she approached. Behind her, I spotted the huge man as he leaped on her, then kicked away, slowing her momentum but continuing his own as he swung his mace at me. I flipped away from his attack, moving higher into the sky, but then the knife-boy appeared, all four knives shooting toward me as he grinned wickedly. I sidestepped his attack and kicked higher, then the captain herself appeared.

Her face was altered, the eyes of a cat staring out at me as her face grew whiskered and feline. A clawed hand cut toward me as a grin of triumph split her expression, revealing fangs.

"CHEETAH-CHEETAH SLICE-N-DICE!"

My vision grew red and I flashed back down to the ground, my back to the pirates. Waiting until all four pairs of feet had hit the ground, I turned to look at her and raised Lac'sar up by my shoulder.

"You will die this day."

She smirked and moved, blurring even to my vision as she flashed away and reappeared in front of me, her claws reaching for me. Whipping Ras'cal up, I slapped her attack away and snapped a kick into her stomach before leveling both pistols at her.

"Wicked Twin Sideshow!"

The barrels of the two guns barked six times each, laying down a crosshatch pattern that was designed to ensure an opponent was hit at least once if not more. As she sidestepped each shot, however, I was forced to rethink my strategy and leaped into the air as a mace slammed into the ground where I had been standing.

"Don't forget about us, little man!" The big brute smirked up at me as he freed his weapon and swung it again.

"We're not your usual opponents, mister." The boy slashed toward me from behind, nearly touching my coat before I somersaulted over his head, coming face-to-face with a grim-looking Shasta, who simply shot toward me, her swords crossing to form a sort of scissors.

"LOBSTER STRIKE!"

I leaped over the attack, flipping around and planting a hand on her head as I flew over her. "You four are annoying."

Landing beyond her, I spun my pistols around in my hands before catching them again. "Twin-Twin Double!"

The air around my hands rippled, then another chamber, trigger and barrel emerged from the bottom of my pistols and my opponents suddenly found themselves facing four guns. Smiling, I leveled the weapons at the catwoman.

"My pistols have eaten the Twin-Twin Devil Fruit. Not only that, I'm wicked fast and pack a mean punch. And you only come at me like that?! I'm insulted."

The boy gaped at me. "How do pistols eat fruit? It's insane!"

"Not in the Grand Line." Their captain tossed her black-spotted yellow hair over her shoulder, smiling toothily at me. "So, you're someone who's been there and back. Means if we kill you, we shouldn't have a problem there, either!"

With that, she shot toward me, her teammates surrounding me and swinging their weapons simultaneously. This time, however, their attacks also covered the air; I wouldn't get away that way. Shrugging, I lowered my head and focused instead on how to kill the woman, the abomination.

Their weapons struck me, creating a whirlwind of power that would have blown me away if I had been a normal human and had managed to avoid their attacks. Instead, however, I took their blows and smiled as they cried out in pain, backing away from me and staring in horror as the debris settled. I was untouched.

"That's what happens in the Grand Line, too," I said in satisfaction. "There are people there who want to kill others and focus so intently on that intent to kill that anyone with less deadly intent will find themselves unable to hurt them. Worse, like in your case," I nodded at their bleeding hands, "there will be those who think they are hard, but have only a hard shell around a soft core. Once that shell is broken," I raised Ras'cal up and rested its twin barrels on my shoulder, "you find your own weapons being swayed by the other's intent to kill and injuring you, instead."

Shasta spun her blades through her hands, which I noted with surprise were untouched by her swords, and furrowed her brow at me. Her captain smiled wickedly.

"Kill him, Shasta. Kill him and I'll give you your freedom."

My eyebrows raised up as I digested that little statement, then a plan formed in my head and I brought both weapons down, lowering my head as I began focusing. The air around me grew thick, then a wind whipped up around me and began cycloning around me; raising my weapons up to point at the captain, I leaped, screaming commands.

"TWIN-TWIN QUADRUPLE!" Two more barrels emerged from the handles at right angles from the others, while the handles grew into gloves that strapped themselves to my hands, a squeeze trigger forming in my grip. "TWIN-TWIN OCTUPLE!" Four more barrels emerged from each one, creating a ring of barrels that circled my arms, then I spun my feet around and braced against the air, slowing to a halt as I finished, "Wicked Twin Hellfire!"

Aiming both weapons at the cat, I braced against the air and cut loose, a rain of fire slamming down into the ground around her. She flashed past the first wave, then I began tracking past her, moving as fast as she was and slightly faster as I moved in front of her and caused her to backpedal away more than once. The big brute attempted to get in between us and shield her with his mace, but I flashed in front of him and kicked his head, sending him flying away as I continued pursuing her with my weapons.

She ran, her eyes always on my weapons' chambers as she attempted to watch for when my weapons would run out of ammunition. Grinning, I laughed at her.

"Sorry, forgot to tell you; once they've been double, the Wicked Twins don't run out of ammo."

She hissed and abruptly cut into a ninety-degree turn that took her toward where Aliza was guarding Licone, her intent to force me to stop lest I harm them obvious. Smirking, I flashed in front of her and watched as she skidded to a halt just in front of the sixteen muzzles.

"I think I'm getting tired of my inferiors thinking they can outthink me."

She hissed, then her eyes widened in surprise as I transformed the twins back to their original forms and spun them around on my fingers.

"I will now kill you and defeat your crew." Smiling arrogantly at her, I hefted both pistols up to my shoulders. "And I will do it with the twins in their normal states."

She hissed and flashed toward me, her claws reaching for my face. There was an explosion, then my afterimage faded from in front of her as she collapsed, her skull moving away from Ras'cal's muzzle as I eyed her shocked crew coldly.

"Who's next?"

The boy screamed and shot toward me, a storm of knives shooting from him as he flung everything he had at me. Aiming Lac'sar, I squeezed the trigger, sending a bullet out that deflected every single blade before slamming into the kid's skull, dropping him like a rag doll as he skidded forward until he reached my feet, his momentum dying at that point. The big man bellowed and leaped at me, his mace slamming down and cracking the ground; the crack raced toward my feet until I stomped down with one foot, sending a shockwave out that stopped the crack and sent another one toward the big man.

He grunted as he leaped aside, rolling into a crouch and coming up just in time to freeze, terror on his face, as I aimed my pistol at him, my eyes cold.

"I am sorry."

He screamed, then threw his mace at where my crewmates were; growling, I pulled the trigger and he followed his crewmates to death. Spinning around, I was preparing to flash forward when the mace dissolved into four separate parts, Shasta landing on the ground gently as the dissected pieces of the weapon fell to the ground. Looking at me sadly, she settled into a combat stance.

"I am prepared to die; shall we dance?"

I grunted. "Why'd you stop the mace?"

She spat. "He was dishonorable. Anyone who is defeated so thoroughly in battle shouldn't be thinking about how many he can take with him, but rather dying honorably."

Chuckling, I holstered my pistols. "Not in war, swordfighter. Not in war."

She looked at me curiously, suspiciously. "Why are you holstering your weapons?"

Drawing my right fist back, I braced my shoulder with my left hand and smirked at her. "I swore to defeat your crew, did I not? But it doesn't seem right to kill you, who is so far above these others, in the same fashion as them. So..." I lowered my head and growled as more and more energy began accumulating in my fist, the air around me beginning to crackle from the sheer amount of power in my grip. I felt the air temperature rising, too, and smirked as I brought my head back up.

"You will not die this day."

With that, I shot forward, the power of the attack ripping a trench in the ground as I burst toward Shasta, who simply stared in awe at the power approaching her. Smiling as I watched her face settle into calm, I flashed behind her, to get my crew out of the line of fire, and raised my hand above my head. Just before I brought it down, I looked into her eyes as she looked up at me towering over her, my coat billowing in the wind whipped up by my attack.

"Are you prepared to die, warrior?"

She nodded once and stared at me unblinkingly. "Do it. Do it and I will be free."

I laughed once, then brought the attack down. "GORGON FIST!"

Her eyes widened, then the attack struck next to her, bathing us both in pure power as it radiated outward from my fist.

Then I smirked and picked her up, bringing her into my coat and flashing back to shield the other two girls, Aliza trying desperately to block out the light of my attack with her arms as she attempted to create a candy shield around her and Licone. As I settled down over the two of them, she looked at Shasta in surprise, but whatever she might have said was drowned out by the explosion that rippled out across the mountain.

Smiling as the energy battered at me, I looked at my captain and smirked.

"Meet our new swordfighter, Captain."