Chapter 4:
The Straw Hats looked stunned at that statement and Mr. 3 realized something, "Wait, you haven't seen them?" All of the members had different reactions.
"K-Kaido is here too?" Usopp asked and Franky started to get really nervous. He destroyed the SMILE factory back in Dressrosa and was sure to be the man's target in the tournament.
Zoro grinned menacingly and leaned back in his seat as he thought about the new competition they had. Nami was more upset and a she was on her knees with a small rain cloud forming above her head as she mumbled something about losing all her money. As Luffy opened his mouth to ask if Shanks was really here, the loudspeaker turned on and they listened to the next matchup. "Arlong versus Chess!"
The crowd cheered as they were anticipating a good fight but Nami couldn't hear any of them. Her eyes were open and she was staring at the ground as she slowly unbent her knees and got to her feet. Since Kuroobi was here I should have guessed, she looked ahead and saw a man that she could only think of as a monster walking down to the lake in the middle of the arena. But how did he get out of prison? Unless... she turned her head slowly and looked at her captain who was glaring down as well. He probably doesn't realize it, I shouldn't tell him.
"Chess?" Chopper asked and he looked around for the blue saw shark's opponent. A man wearing a white and green cloak jumped down on the ice area of the arena and Chopper grimaced, "He's used to cold environments, I wonder if he's gotten any stronger in the last two years."
"Isn't that the guy who was walking on water near Drum Island?" Usopp asked as he stared at the man on the ice.
Brook looked at him with wide eyes, even though he doesn't have eyes, "Walking on water?!"
"Something like that," Nami recalled a different situation following that incident, but she was too focused on Arlong to go into specifics. "I can't believe he's really here," the man who still sometimes haunted her nightmares walked towards the lake and then saw his opponent as Chess stood on the ice. The man had a quiver on his back and was holding a bow with an already knocked arrow.
"What's he doing?" Franky asked. "The countdown is almost over, why doesn't he get in the water?"
Jimbei responded as he looked at his former crewmate, "He's still a powerful opponent even out of the water." He turned to Nami and spoke quieter, "That's the second time he's gotten out of Impel Down now. Both times I am at fault for his escape. I won't blame you if..."
"Jimbei, don't worry," Nami patted the whale shark fishman on the back and he was surprised by her reaction. "You also got Luffy out of there so those two cancel each other out." She smiled at the man but he was looking back at the arena and she saw that the timer had just hit zero.
Chess shot the arrow knocked on his bow and it soared towards Arlong who moved a little to the right and the shot flew right past him. He started charging across the stone section and jumping on pieces of rubble as he made his way towards the archer. Chess fired shot after shot at Arlong who just kept running towards him and each bolt missed him by just a small bit each time. Finally he was only ten feet away and Chess tried not to panic as he let another arrow fly.
There was no way for Arlong to dodge the arrow as he was too close and standing on ice. The saw shark reached out a hand and caught the arrow as it was inches away from his chest. The man from Drum Island tried knocking another arrow but flinched as Arlong snapped the bolt he caught like a twig between his fingers.
Arlong snapped his head forward fast and sliced straight through Chess's shaking bow and into the man's flesh behind it. He removed his razor-sharp nose and laughed as the man in front of him fell to the ground in agony. He reached his head down and opened his teeth wide to clamp down but the speakers turned on and called for the end of the match. "Tssk," he seemed disappointed he didn't get to kill the human, but he just started laughing and walked away.
"Where's he going?" Usopp asked.
The monster from Nami's past wasn't walking back towards the stands, but in the same direction that the guards in purple were carrying Chess. She sighed and sat back in her seat now that he was gone down the hallway, "He might hate humans as much as Hordy did, but Arlong loved his crew. He's probably going to see how Kuroobi's doing."
"All I did was knock him out," Luffy stated with a shrug. "There isn't any reason for him to be in the infirmary."
"That match went fast, we're moving through the first round with amazing speed!" The man running the show called out the next two fighters, "Sanji versus Pearl!"
"Pearl?" Sanji muttered under his breath as he jumped down to the stone floor beneath him. "I do know someone by that name, but it couldn't be him."
"We meet again," the annoying voice said from behind Sanji and he hated it when he was wrong. He turned around and was actually surprised by the changes in the man who attacked the sea restaurant two years ago.
"So, you finally made it back to the Grand Line?" Sanji asked. He looked at the once fat man's new bulking muscles. Pearl still had the same annoying face with a pink and green orb over his head, but his body armor was completely different. The circles on his front and back were now made of some black metal that Sanji had never seen before. "The New World even, that's impressive," he looked back where the man came from in search of Don Krieg and more importantly, Gin.
"The captain wouldn't rest until we came and took revenge on you, Straw Hat, and Hawk-eyes. Who would've thought you'd all be in the same place only weeks after we came to the New World?" Pearl started laughing and Sanji seemed less impressed. They'd been in the second half of the Grand Line for even less time than his own crew.
"Sanji, the timer hit zero!"
"Get to kicking his ass already curly-cook!"
"I'll kick your ass once this is over!" Sanji turned and shouted into the stands. When he looked back, Pearl was right in front of him with an arm pulled back. He had no idea the man could move that fast or how strong he'd become.
His right hand had that same black metal in a circle around his knuckles and he slammed it and the red orb sticking out straight into Sanji's face. He felt it collide and it hurt like Hell, but as his skin pressed into the red orb, it started to glow and his eyes opened wide as a huge explosion threw him backwards across the stone floor.
Zoro was laughing his ass off in the stands as the rest of the Straw Hats yelled for Sanji to get serious. Their chef frowned as he stood up covered in smoke and small burn marks on his skin. Pearl was charging at him again, but he was angry now and he rose a foot, holding it in front of himself. He snarled at his opponent and leapt forward, kicking Pearl before the man even saw him coming. Sanji kicked for the man's chest, trying to break the black metal surrounding him. When his foot was about to connect however, Pearl moved the slightest bit and the blue orb sticking out of his chest plate got hit by Sanji's foot instead.
The chef was about to go for a second kick but he felt his first foot feel cold upon impact and then freezing. He looked down to see that his entire left leg from the foot to the knee was coated in ice.
"Take this," Sanji looked back up in time to see Pearl's left fist coming towards him and it collided, causing another explosion that knocked him backwards and rolling into the water. "Seems you haven't really improved since I burned that shitty restaurant. Hahaha, now my armor is impenetrable, no one has scratched me since I got my new super-powered armor."
"Sanji!" Chopper shouted.
"Sanji-san," Brook called out and some of the crew were feeling worried that their chef wasn't coming back up. All of a sudden the water started to bubble. Then they realized that the lake in the middle had one spot on it where the water wasn't just bubbling, it was boiling and Sanji flew out of the surface on fire.
Pearl stared up, his eyes popping out of his sockets as the enemy glared down at him. Sanji started heating up his leg until it was entirely red, the heat from his body becoming focused on one point. "Diable Jambe," he used his moonwalk to shoot himself down towards Pearl at amazing speeds and was a blur as he slammed into the man and kicked him in the chest. He hit right in the blue orb on his circular plate, but the loud crack that was heard showed everyone who had one the match. The orb shattered followed by the black shield cracking in several directions before Sanji's foot nailed Pearl in the torso and he hunched over in pain.
Don Krieg's underling was shot so far backwards that he slammed against the wall and shook the bleachers where everyone was sitting. Pearl was knocked unconscious and the room was silent for a second before everyone started cheering. The room was buzzing with noise and Robin created ears around the room as the announcer called out Sanji's victory.
"So he learned Geppou, still only one of the six..."
"Those Straw Hats are sweeping their matches so far."
"They're just getting lucky draws."
"Black Leg Sanji, his bounty hasn't been updated for several years. Looks like the Government is slacking."
"Another one of Straw Hat's lackeys gets in the next round."
"Nico Robin, I'd prefer it if you didn't try to listen to my conversations." Robin was startled by the voice in her ear when she made it appear next to Crocodile and she smiled.
She formed a mouth where her ear vanished and she whispered, "Should have known not to try to eavesdrop on you, Mr. 0." She made her mouth disappear and looked forward to get ready for the next fight the announcer was starting to call.
"Next match, we have a battle of the Jeans. Jean Bart versus Jean Ango!" Two men dropped down to the floor and looked at each other from different sides of the sand area.
One had no shirt, but over twenty weapons strapped on his sides. Knives, swords, axes, he had them all and he had a hat on the top of his head in the shape of a cactus. The other man was over three times as tall, and had huge muscles just like the smaller one. Jean Bart had long spiky black hair flowing down his back and spiked sideburns as well.
"Isn't that guy part of Tra-guy's crew?" Nami asked. She looked around but only Robin gave her an affirmative nod. "Then let's cheer for him you guys. We're allies after all."
"Yeah," Chopper agreed and then raised his voice, "Yeah Bart, you can do this!"
"Go for it Jean!" Usopp called. Haha, now whoever wins, I can still say I picked the winner. Hehe.
The match was counting down and both continued to glare at each other without moving. Compared to all of Jean Ango's weapons, Jean Bart had none and all he held were his two fists. The man was wearing a black tank top that showed off his massive arm muscles and some people thought he must be half giant since he was towering way over the other man who was around normal size if not a little shorter.
The timer hit zero and the man with the cactus hat started throwing the weapons in his hands. Each one sped forward faster than many could see and hit their marks perfectly. A few swords slammed right into Jean Bart's chest and Nami winced, fearing the worst. When she opened her clenched eyes however, her mouth was open along with Chopper, Brook, Franky, and Usopp.
The man the swords hit looked down at the tips of the weapons that had embedded themselves partially in his skin. "Ouch," the man said with a small grin and they all watched as Jean Ango started to sweat. The large man covered in muscles reached down and pulled out the tip of a sword that barely made him bleed and he held it in his hand. "Have it back," he shouted and threw it so hard at the bounty hunter that he didn't even see it come flying at him. The blade past right by the side of his face and he heard a loud crack behind him.
Ango and many of the spectators turned their heads to see the weapon sticking out of the wall around the sand area. It was buried all the way to the hilt, and large cracks spread out around it. He looked back to Bart, but Law's crew member was no longer across the area from him. Instead, the large man was standing inches away from the shorter man wearing all green.
"I give," the man squeaked as Jean Bart pulled back an arm.
"Winner: Jean Bart!" The crowd went wild at the overwhelming victory and the short man was still trembling as he ran off for the stands.
"Stupid tournament," the man mumbled while running off. The bounty hunter snickered to himself. "No matter, when this is all over I have the locations of hundreds of pirates. Just have to watch for the weaker ones I'll be able to handle." He shivered as he looked over towards Blackbeard and his crew, "Not him," he looked over towards the Straw Hats and flinched remembering Dressrosa, "Or them," then to Doflamingo's group, "definitely not them."
Robin was chuckling in her seat and the crew turned to her to see what was so funny. She was listening to the loser of the previous fight and was more than happy to see that their crew was the second one he mentioned that he wouldn't risk going after. "It's nothing," she told them and smiled at the others.
"Alright everyone, who's ready for the next match?!" the announcers voice shouted and hundreds of pirates cheered. "We've got a big one here," everyone looked around hoping to hear names they recognized. "Don Krieg versus Dracule 'Hawk-Eyes' Mihawk!" Half the crowd started cheering while the other half stared in awe at the figure walking down from a mostly empty portion of the bleachers.
The countdown started in the air and Luffy looked down with an angry face at the man who messed up Sanji's restaurant. "Hawk-Eyes!" Krieg shouted, "I couldn't think of an opponent I'd rather have for my first match!" The man's appearance was different from what they saw back in East Blue. He didn't have on his 'indestructible' armor so they knew that something must have changed with his fighting style.
"He doesn't stand a chance," Zoro muttered while tilting his head back, getting ready for a very short nap.
"I don't know, that Pearl guy got a lot stronger in the last two years," Usopp told his friend. "Just imagine how much stronger the captain must be," he seemed to pick up Zoro's interest and the others were watching closer too. Even if they thought he couldn't win, it would still be interesting to see how he improved.
Mihawk jumped down and landed on the sand area, but his feet didn't sink in at all or even make indents. He stood on top of it and Krieg glared at him from the dirt area, starting to walk towards him. The timer got closer to being finished and the large man with short gray hair on top of his head laughed as he walked forward. "You destroyed my crew, my entire fleet," the people in the stands got only more excited, they loved the personal battles. "I won't forgive you!"
"Where do you know him from?" Brook asked the crew and a few of them were able to answer. Franky, Chopper, and Robin all listened as Usopp explained how Sanji had fed a hungry Krieg and their crew, just for them to attack Baratie and try to kill them all.
"Ungrateful asshole," Franky muttered, "Take him down Hawk-Eyes!"
"Hawk-Eyes," Luffy said and stared over at the man. The memory of the giant frozen wave getting sliced in half flashed through his mind and he turned a little pale, "He's really strong. He beat up Zoro once and almost killed me in the War."
"Huh?" Zoro asked, glaring back at his mentor for the last two years. The man had barely ever mentioned Luffy but he definitely didn't say anything about trying to kill him.
"You know everyone from the War don't you?" Nami asked with a sigh, wondering if there was anyone in the room her captain didn't know.
They were all back to watching as the clock hit zero. Dracule raised a sword, though not the large black one on his back. It was a small thin saber and Krieg growled, knowing the man wasn't taking him seriously. With an intense amount of speed, the Schichibukai raced forward and slashed at the pirate.
Don Krieg surprised them all by jumping out of the way, almost effortlessly. Now Zoro was intrigued by the match and stared forward seeing the Don's speed. He grabbed the black shirt over his torso and ripped it off, showing his white skin underneath, but there was something wrong with it, it looked too... square. His torso and his chest were wide, but more than broad; his body had actual corners on it.
He rose up his right hand and a few of them saw a small hole on the end of it, "Take this!" Krieg shouted and a light shot out and slammed into the ground next to Mihawk. The best swordsman in the world leapt to the side to avoid the blast and smirked down at the man below him.
"I do not remember your name," Dracule stated, "nor do I remember destroying your fleet. It must have been a boring day," everyone in the stands felt chills down their spines that that was what he did on his boring days. "But I will remember your name this time," Krieg didn't seem to care and turned his arm to shoot where Mihawk was about to land.
"He has beams too!?" Usopp, Chopper, and Luffy all leaned forward and almost fell out of their seats. Franky growled in annoyance as the Warlord dodged again and another large explosion of yellow light lit up the sand, leaving a large crater in the ground.
"I took down one of the Government's Pacifista and made some powerful additions to my body," he slammed his other hand against his chest and they heard the loud clank reverberate in the room. "Just try cutting me now," he yelled at Mihawk before shooting another beam at him with his right hand.
This time Hawk-Eyes didn't dodge, he slid the saber back into its sheath and pulled out the black sword before anyone could see him move at all. With the giant sword he sliced the thin beam in half and it flew to either side of him, exploding in smaller balls of fire than if they had collided together.
"What?!" Krieg shouted, raising his left hand now. "You want more?" his left hand glowed and Dracule got ready to slice another beam, but this time a small black ball shot out of the hole in his hand. Hawk-Eyes didn't flinch as he sliced the ball in half, but the few who were still watching Don Krieg became confused as the man smirked.
The Schichibukai seemed to notice this too and wondered why Krieg would be grinning. His vision started to get foggy and he noticed a small haze around him. "Gas?" he asked and jumped backwards. The gas released by the split of the small ball wasn't visible to the human eye, but as Mihawk landed he felt his knees shake a little.
"Poison," Sanji muttered, "still the same tricks as always."
Zoro was staring at the swordsman with disgust. You better not let him beat you, embarrassing won't even begin to describe... ha. Mihawk looked up in the stands and the Straw Hats felt unnerved but he was looking straight at Zoro who stared back at him. The man on the battlefield grabbed his sword tight and looked back at Krieg who was preparing another beam with his right hand.
"You said to try and cut you," Mihawk stated and his voice echoed throughout the suddenly silent room. Krieg started shaking and he didn't know the reason, but Hawk-Eyes stared at him with his... hawk... eyes, and grinned, "I will try."
All of a sudden, a hundred rockets and guns popped out of Krieg's shoulders and sat there attached to him as he panicked. The large man roared and all the missiles launched and the large guns fired small cannonballs and mini-rockets. At the same time the beam left his right hand and another small ball of poison left his other.
"Whirlpool," Mihawk whispered and turned his body, dragging his sword with him in slow motion and his body seemed to follow behind his movements. It looked like there were more of him as his image stayed where it was and then followed him in a slow twist. Everyone in the stands felt a weird sensation as they were slowed as well and Hawk-Eyes finished his slash.
Every one of the explosives and the beam all split in half in midair, but the small black ball that most people couldn't even see, was the only thing not cut. It was bounced backwards right into Don Krieg's dropped jaw where it went down his throat. As the man choked on his poisonous ball that opened in his mouth, the attack from Mihawk started to swirl around the arena. A single slice sped around and around the room in the center of each of the areas, cutting through them in a circle that knocked up dust, sand, dirt, and ice shards. Soon they couldn't even follow the attack anymore since it wasn't moving as one entity, but the entire circle looked like it was being constantly slashed up.
The master swordsman looked ahead at Don Krieg who was staring at the massive attack spinning around the room. In a low voice he said, "Krieg, it was a much more interesting battle than last time, whenever that was." The pirate captain looked furious and glared over at Mihawk but the tall man wearing all purple and a black hat lifted his head and grinned, "Pierce!"
The spinning attack stopped all at once and they saw where it was really located: right next to Krieg. All the force that kept it spinning the whole time was combined into a single attack that shot through his back, through his front, and then through the wall above the sand where it broke through the hilt of the sword that Jean Bart threw before. The attack was so strong that it sliced through the sword in the wall, and into the hallway on the other side of the wall before breaking outside and fully over the island of Sparta out into the water.
A huge hole appeared in Don Krieg's chest and blood splattered all over the sand as the captain fell to his knees. They could all see where his chest was ripped open and it looked like someone had punched through a metal sheet since the pieces of metal were all still attached to his body but were pointed outwards instead of being connected to each other in one sheet. "Don Krieg!"
Sanji heard the voice and turned his head to see a man jumping across the bleachers and landing on the ground near the outside of the ring. "Gin," he whispered feeling bad for the man whose captain was just impaled.
"Winner: Dracule Mihawk," the man announcing called out.
After that tremendous show of strength, Robin decided to listen around the room again and what she heard didn't surprise her.
"That's what the fighters here are capable of?"
"I don't stand a chance, I need to tell them I forfeit soon before my match starts."
"I'm out."
Robin put her hand down and allowed the ears to disappear. She smiled and turned to her crew, "It looks like a lot of people are deciding this tournament is too tough for them." They turned back to her with excited looks, "Many are pulling out of the competition."
"Cowards," Zoro said with an evil glint in his eye. "At least I know my first match won't give up."
"Why, who did you get?" Nami asked him.
"You'll see sooner or later," he replied and flicked his thumb so that his sword was out of its sheath a little. She growled at his vague response but then looked up as the yellow words saying that Hawk-Eyes won went away.
"Next match we have Chew vs. Rixa!" A voice called out and not many people recognized the names.
"Chew?" Usopp said and then it hit him as another fishman dropped down to the floor and started walking towards the lake in the middle. The water level was now pretty far below the surface but the lake was still deep. The water wasn't very blue anymore and the fishman with the long lips looked sad and angry about his old nakama who was dead at the bottom of the lake.
"Another of Arlong's goons," Nami explained to the newer members of the crew.
"So we're rooting for the other guy," Franky stated and looked around for him. "Who is this Rixa fellow?"
"GRRRR," the crew froze at the loud growling noise coming from over above the snow area. At the very top of the bleachers there was a section of chairs completely abandoned by every other group except for the ten to twenty members sitting in the darkness. It was where the source of the noise was coming from and a lone figure started walking down the stairs towards the edge of the arena.
Chew was about to drop into the lake when he heard the growl and looked up. Someone was walking down towards him wearing a large red cloak. The person didn't have the hood up, and as he walked into the light, or she walked in, everyone gasped at her appearance. The woman had a human-like face and long black hair that fell behind her head and mixed in with her fur. She was wearing only the red cloak that started to expand with her body as her torso got larger and larger.
"She's bigger than Lucci," Chopper whispered in fear of the Zoan-Fruit user.
"Who is that?" Usopp asked in fear of the woman whose body turned black and white, completely covered in fur. Her arms and legs were massive, muscles bulking out and her teeth narrowed and became sharper. Standing over twelve feet tall, she dropped down to the side of the arena and created a small crater where she landed. It wasn't as much from her power, as from the sheer size of the woman.
Nico Robin had heard the name before and could instantly match the person to her bounty photo. "A woman who ate the Bear-Bear Fruit: Model Panda. Rixa, the navigator for the Beast Pirates." She saw that most of them still looked confused and said in a lower voice, "Kaido's pirates," everyone looked back up in the dark area of the bleachers and knew at that moment that someone was glaring back at them, and it sent chills down their spines.
A/N Kaido's here now! How many more can I add into this story? Who knows?! It's been a lot of fun writing these and it won't distract me too much from my other projects. The main thing bothering me right now is my broken letter 'r' key. I had to go back and slam my finger down on the key a couple times just writing this author's note. Love to get reviews and hear what you guys think about the chapter, so please leave one below. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and expect another update soon!
