Disclaimer: I Do Not Own One Piece.

Chapter 23: Iryoku Fights! Part II

The Next Morning…

"Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro!"

"SHUT UP, KISE!"

The door to the Inn's farthest room flew open. Aro walked out of the room in a freshly cleaned outfit, different from the original she wore before. Cap had told her for the sake of hiding from Veldoro, she had to wear something new. His choice of new happened to be more of something she could see Serisha wearing: yellow belly-tank-top, long blue-Jean pants that were bell-bottoms, and a matching blue hat that covered her ears. Her tail swung freely. Cap had told her that as long as she didn't let it twitch much, it should look like it came off the black cloth belt that was tied in the back. She had looked at it earlier, and he was right, it worked perfectly.

She shifted the sword on her back. Cap told her that she couldn't use her scythe, but he had saved her favorite sword from the 'old times'. She smiled sadly at the thought. "Aro! Aro! "Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro! Aro!" Kise was dressed differently as well. Cap had to throw something together for him: long brown coat that came to mid-shin, long black jeans, bright white T-shirt and a black French painters hat.

"Agh… what?" She finally turned to him, hands on her hips. Her tail gave a small twitch.

"You might want to put these shades on."

"Why?"

"You're a cat, they'll see your pupils dilate in the afternoon sun if you don't…" Kise held up the shades. She looked the glasses over, raising an eyebrow. She gently picked them up from the now grinning Kise.

"They're thicker than normal…"

"Just the 'plastic' part."

"What did you do to them?"

"Well, Guzen, Jane, and I got together last night while you and Ezerial were asleep." Aro blushed slightly. She didn't share her room with guys normally, but space was limited. "So, what we did was we took a pair of sunglasses and modified them. Put them on." He didn't wait for her to do it herself, but took them and put them on her.

"WOW!" She said, looking around. Everything was the same; "It's just heavier!" She took them off, frowning deeply.

"Wait wait wait!" He put them back on her. "Watch." He pushed a button on the side.

Aro jumped back suddenly, hands up as if ready to fight. "Wh-what the hell?!"

"X-ray. Now, push that button again." He pushed it for her again.

"Heat Vision, I'm guessing?"

"Yes! Ja Kyllä OuiIgen Sì Hai Sim Да Ndiyo !"

"Let me guess…" Aro said, pushing the button again to switch it to zoomed in version of her eyesight. "Yes in ten languages?"

"Yes in fourteen, actually." Kise said with a smile.

"Sarcastic idiot…" She pushed the button again to find something odd. "You have a glow around you…"

"Yep."

"What setting is this?"

"Spirit setting."

"What?"

"I can't explain how Jane came up with it, but it lets you see if things are alive or not."

Aro looked down at Jane and frowned. Broken setting… she thought to herself after seeing the glow around the wrench. She turned, about to push the button, and froze. There was no glow around the rest of the Inn. She spun back to Kise, "Your wrench is glowing."

"Yes, I know. Jane is alive, you know." He said this with a roll of his eyes as if this was common knowledge.

"… Right…" She turned and headed to the ring where the matches were to be held.

---

"Good night's rest, a few morning exercises… I'm ready to go!" Ezerial said as he stretched towards the sky. Guzen frowned at him from his seat under the tree.

"… You've wasted 57 minutes and 23 seconds on stretching…"

"Why were you timing me, anyway?"

"Because, I wanted to know how much of Aro's match we missed." Guzen stood up, brushing off the pure white pants that were just slightly baggy around the ankles so they covered the black sneakers somewhat. He adjusted his small white vest over the tucked in black T-shirt. His hair was pulled back into a tight rat-tail. Cap made him leave his cards and dice in the room. Now, he had a kunai case tied to his left leg and a shieriken case on his black belt.

Ezerial was affected by the clothes and weapon change too. He had on black pants like Guzen, a white T-shirt tucked in like Guzen's, a black coat that came to his pant's pockets, white shoes like Guzen's, and his hair was pulled back like Guzen's as well. In his hand was a staff about the same height as his sword. "A little rusty with the staff as a weapon…" he muttered, starting off toward the ring where the fights were to be held.

Guzen followed, hands going to his pockets to finger the back-up weapon he planned to sneak past Cap. A small smile played across his face with the thought of it being there.

---

Cap waited in a small dugout kind of building next to the ring. Different thing is, this dugout was raised above the ring. He looked at his watch. Ten until the match started. "Where are you four…" He put his hands behind his head. Today's outfit choice was a Marine uniform.

"Hey officer." Aro said, coming up the stairs with Kise in trail.

"Hello Ora and Esik." He smiled slightly.

"That's the name we're enrolled as?" Kise asked with a frown. He sat beside Aro who sat beside the door. "Pretty lame, old man."

"My name is Cap." He sighed as Ezerial and Guzen came up as well. They sat so that Guzen was next to Kise and Ezerial was the farthest from the door. "Hey Zengu and Ialzere."

"Lame names, old man." Ezerial commented.

"Oh shut up. The name's Cap." He crossed his arms and leaned on the viewing window in front of them.

"Wow…" Aro said as she stood to look out the window. The ring was about as long as a football field in diameter, and had high walls that came to the base of each window to keep the fighters from knocking into the stilts that held the dugouts. The ground had all elements that could be used in a fight: desert, water based, forest, mountain, and on so. She felt her ears trying to perk up at the sight of the large and lush green trees.

What I wouldn't give for a catnap in one of those trees… she thought to herself.

"WELCOME!" A voice came on the intercom that filled the stadium. Aro stuck her head out of the doorway to the rows and rows of bleachers that surrounded them. She felt her ears lay flat.

"No emergency escape route…" She muttered.

"Test… test… test… Is it working? Can they… they can? All right. WELCOME TO THE WORLD FAMOUS IRYOKU FIGHTING TOURNAMENT!" The crowd gave a loud cheer that caused Aro to cover her ears.

"Wow… lots of blood lusters…"

"Are you all ready for the first match?!" Another roar from the crowd answered him. Aro gave a 'whoop-tee-do' notion with her fingers and sat down again. "Our first match is Pegigon versus a new comer, Ora!"

"Oh hell…" Aro said, standing up and looking out the window. Pegigon was large. Not just tall, but LARGE. In one hand he held a battle-axe larger than Aro, herself. She swallowed. His body was covered in armor from head to toe and back again. He was smiling, showing his missing teeth, his golden teeth, or his yellow-stained teeth. Aro turned away and took a deep breath.

"You alright Aro?"

"You look at that guy and tell me if I'm alright…" She muttered, heading towards the ring. After she was gone, all four guys looked.

"Nope," Kise said, "She's dead…"

Ezerial and Guzen hit Kise in the back of the head at once. Cap sighed, "Come on, Aro…"