Chapter 8:

Big Mom looked up at the countdown. The numbers were clicking down to zero and she gazed over at her opponent. "Ha! Who do you think you are? I sure don't know," she laughed hard and ooze dripped from her sides and boiled on the ground it landed on. A hole burned through the ice below where the glob hit and Wire looked over at the hole observantly.

The man in all black started running in a circle around the ice area while the Yonko stared at him unamused. "You going to try something? I'm waiting," she laughed and acid spit flew out of her mouth. Wire got some on his black headdress and it started to melt so he grabbed it and threw it to the floor. His long black hair flowed out from where it was bundled under the garb. The man grabbed the trident on his back and swung it into his hand before throwing it at Big Mom.

"Nope," she said and her body lifted up. No one even saw her jump, she just seemed to lift straight up and the weapon flew under her massive oozing form. "Only inexperienced Logias wait for a weapon to hit expecting it will go straight through. Don't think I didn't see the seastone points on the end of your trident."

The man had painted the tips of his weapon the same color as the rest so that it would be impossible to see. "I can smell it," the man heard someone whisper in his ear. She punched him hard in the back and his skin and hair melted away where her fist connected. He was thrown forward by the force as his flesh burned and he tumbled across the ice into a large stone piece that was slanted up from the rest of the floor.

Linlin started drooling, "I need candy," she said in a raspy voice. Her skin and pink dress both merged with the globs and stated spreading across the floor so that she was moving towards him slowly. The guy dragged his feet up and picked up his body while clutching something with his right hand. "Candy!"

"Oh I hate it when mom gets mad like this," a voice in the stands near where Big Mom was before said. Baron Temago and Pekoms looked at the man with crazy eyes and stepped back, "She always wrecks everything when she does."

Wire startled the Yonko, which was a hard thing to do. She was expecting an attack, or defense, not for the man who'd kept a blank expression the whole time to suddenly start smiling. He opened his right hand and tossed it up in the air where it exploded in a ball of light. "Ah!" the woman shrieked and lifted her arms to melt through the attack. "AHH!" she shouted out as the explosion was filled with shrapnel, seastone shrapnel.

"He, he got her," Usopp whispered. His fear of the woman made him believe the match would be over in seconds, but this Wire guy was putting up a fight... against a Yonko!

"It's hard to believe she made it to the top," Zoro muttered, wondering if that was the true extent of an Emperor's power. "Must be the weakest of the four."

The woman on the ground heard not only Zoro, but everyone in the room who was dissing on her right now. Her opponent walked over to the wall where his trident was sticking out and he walked back over to the huge woman who was no longer oozing acid goop. He lifted his golden weapon when something caught his eye and he froze.

Clatter. A pile of screws and scraps of metal dropped down on the stone and made loud enough noises to carry around the room. The scrap pile was made of all the little bits of seastone that Big Mom shifted away from her with control of her acidy body. "Don't think you had me just because your pathetic attack hit." Her entire torso opened up wide and the woman's lips twisted into a crazed smile.

Usopp, Nami, Vivi, and Chopper's eyes popped out of their sockets as they stared ahead at the woman whose torso tore in half down the middle. Her entire insides were filled with the gooey shit that started steaming and making loud hissing noises. Wire's smile was gone as he took a step back, but Big Mom grabbed him with both arms.

"I give!" The man shouted as Charlotte Linlin was about to throw him in her chest.

Everyone except for the Kid Pirates seemed relieved. "Pathetic," Captain Kid said himself as he looked down to see if Wire was daring to walk back up to them. His eyes grew as did the rest of his crew's. The whole audience started as Linlin's expression only grew crazier and she pulled at either of Wire's arms, forcing him to drop the trident and scream.

"Ms. Linlin. I have to request you put down your opponent." The announcer said over the speakers.

"You said two strikes and we're out right?" she asked, looking straight into the man in her arms' soul. The room stared at her in horror and a few looked over to see what Eustass Kid was doing. The captain of the Kid Pirates was leaning forward in his seat and watching interestedly to see what would happen. "Then make this strike one."

"She's gonna kill you Wire! Should have saved yourself the embarrassment and died during the fight you pussy!" Kid started laughing and leaned back in his chair.

"Maybe we should stop this," Killer suggested to the captain who smirked and gave him a dirty look.

"He dug himself this trench," the man with the pistol on his belt and sharp spiky hair laughed and stared down at the scene, "Get out of there quick bro!"

"He's not going to save him?" Nami asked in horror as Big Mom licked her lips.

"Doesn't look like it," Zoro replied and they all watched as the large woman threw her toy inside her open chest where he flew face-first into the back of her insides covered in acid. His screams carried around the entire room as her flesh melded back over him. They could see steam coming out all over her body, and the white steam was turning a reddish color.

"Winner: Charlotte Linlin. That's one strike for the Big Mom Pirates. One more, and your entire team is disqualified."

"That was dangerous mom," Baron Temago stated as she walked up the steps of the sand area. "We all know Bobbin can't be trusted not to kill his opponent."

"He'll have to now. That kid was pissing me off," she growled and more acid dripped off her body.

"Of course mom," Bobbin said with a wide smile. His head twitched over and over really fast making him look like a blur before coming to a stop. "I won't kill anyone!" They could all still hear the screaming inside Big Mom's stomach as her opponent was being slowly digested.

"Let's get started with the next match!" The announcer called out and the room was silent. The sounds of the cries from one of Kid's pirates filled the room while the captain ignored them, sitting back in his seat. Some of his other crew mates, the man next to him with a blue and white striped mask included, glared at the Yonko from across the room, but no one lifted a finger to save their crew member.

"If you weren't prepared to die. Don't become a pirate," Kid said as the last of the screams disappeared.

"That was harsh," Sanji said and turned to his captain before freezing up. He had only seen Luffy angry at this level a few times before. The rubber captain was glaring so hard across the areas at Kid that the Blackbeard pirates near them were scampering away and changing seats if they were in the path of Luffy's eyes.

His own nakama, died! Right in front of him! Usopp was staring off with almost as much hatred in his eyes as he had when he saw the man kill Ideo. Zoro was frowning in their direction and he felt his cursed blade, the Sandai Kitetsu, begging for their captain's blood.

Big Mom started cackling, "Weakest of the four I hear?" Anyone in the room who said something like that during her fight froze and hoped she didn't look towards them. "Ha! I'm the woman who will be the Pirate Queen!"

The room regained its silence and then the Straw Hat Pirates all turned slowly. Most were looking with scared looks and Zoro was the only one smirking as they watched Luffy get out of his seat. "SHUT UP!" The boy screamed across the room.

Everyone turned to the opposite side of the room as Charlotte Linlin and stared at the kid in the Straw Hat. "THE ONE WHO WILL BECOME THE PIRATE KING..."

"Oh no," Nami whispered ducking her head to make herself small.

"IS ME!" Luffy finished and crossed his arms over his chest as he glared across the room at Big Mom.

"Next Match," the moment silence in the room didn't last long enough for a reaction as the speakers turned on. "Kuzan vs Dello!"

"Aokigi is up?" Luffy asked and took a seat, looking around for the former admiral. Most of the room was still staring at the pirate who declared straight to the Yonko's face that he was going to beat her, but laughs started filling the room.

Some of the laughter came from Shanks's area where the man had started and his crew joined in. The rest of it came from the much larger section near the ice area. Marco the Phoenix had a nostalgic look on his face and thought back to the moment during the war when Luffy shouted the same thing to Whitebeard. Back then he was a weak kid shouting nonsense at the strongest man in the world. It isn't surprising at all that he shouted the same thing at Big Mom.

The other Whitebeard Pirates all remembered that as well and couldn't help but laugh at everyone else's reactions.

"This should be a quick fight," Zoro stated and laid back in his seat, deciding that he could finally get some rest.

"Yeah, a no-name pirate doesn't stand a chance against a former Admiral," Usopp agreed and put his arms behind his head like the swordsman.

Robin looked at the boys and then around at the others who were taking this man very lightly. "No-name?" She asked with a small frown. Usopp looked at her and Zoro opened back up his good eye to see what she was talking about. "He has the second highest bounty of any of the Beast Pirates, second only to Kaido." The nearby crews to her heard her speak and all turned in the direction of where Kaido's crew had been coming from recently.

A man stood up with a large white cape. It fell down to his feet but didn't cover his face since the hood was down. Robin kept speaking as the man with short blonde hair stepped down the stairs, "With a bounty of six hundred million, he is five times your bounty," she grinned at Zoro who was now sitting up in his seat and staring across the room at the man. Dello walked down the stairs gracefully, each stride full of power and command. He didn't look like a pirate, more like a decorated Marine with one scar on his face that sliced horizontally from ear to ear, across both cheeks and right over his top lip. "White Gryphon Dello, a truly fearsome man."

Kuzan dropped down from out of nowhere. Nobody had seen where he was sitting during the beginning of the tournament, and now he fell from the ceiling onto the sand section. As his feet touched the ground, ice spread from his feet and covered the whole area. The lake started to freeze over until it was halfway done, and then Kuzan stopped. He had an entire half of the room arena now covered in ice as his opponent finally dropped down to the floor.

"Aokigi," the handsome pirate said and shook his cape so one of his arms could stick out. When the crowd saw his left side, they saw his arm looked muscular, but not too large. There was also a long white sheath on his hip that the man started to draw a sword from.

"It's Kuzan now Dello," the tall man responded to his slightly shorter opponent. Five, four... the timer counted down and the admiral forged a sword made of ice, the same shape as the long silver broadsword that Dello drew.

Hmm, swordsman, first mate, Zoro looked at the man and grinned, he'll be my opponent. Let's see what I'm up against.

Dello got into a fighting stance with his legs spread apart and he held up the huge sword with one hand while his other clenched into a fist at his side. Aokigi formed another large sword of ice and held them in both hands. A second before the match started, the two men smiled. It was only for a moment, but the more perceptive eyes in the room definitely saw it before the two men sped off towards each other.

Much like Arborn and Ideo's match earlier on, it was difficult for many to see from the start of the match. Neither of the men were playing around, and they clashed in the middle of the lake, hovering yards above the split between ice and water. Aokigi clashed one sword with Dello's and the shockwave sent dirt, rocks, and snow flying towards the outside of the arena where they pressed into the walls.

Many guards in purple started running around the bottom of the stands, deflecting rocks and shielding the spectators from the fight. No one was watching them though, all their eyes were pointed at the two men pushing each other hard, their swords trembling from the pressure.

Kuzan used the sword in his other hand and swung it around, but Dello's left fist hardened and punched at the incoming sword, shattering it as the two collided. The two bashed their swords against each other and it knocked them both back. As soon as their feet touched the ground, they both ran clockwise around the arena.

They were circling the middle of the floor, but despite the distance they put between each other, most knew that they could reach the other in under a second if they wanted to. Still, every foot counted and the men watched to see what the other would do. Kuzan was now on the dirt section, and Dello was somewhere in the half of the room covered in ice.

The admiral smirked and dropped his sword, lifting both arms at the same time with his palms facing the ceiling. Ice shot out of the floor under Dello's feet and trapped his feet to the floor. More spread up his legs as he tried to free his feet and the ice finally covered him completely. His frozen form was bent down, with his hands reaching for his left foot to try and free it still.

"That was a disappointment," Usopp muttered. After Robin talking the guy up so much, he assumed he'd be a bigger threat. The sniper turned and looked confused at Zoro and Luffy who were still staring down at the scene like the battle was going on. He looked up to Sanji, and saw he was doing the same thing.

"It's not over yet God Usopp," Sai said from next to him. The leader of the Happo navy stared down and could feel massive power resonating from inside the ice.

Kuzan knew it wasn't over just like when he froze Doflamingo, it seemed to be taking him a longer time to break free than the other man though. "I'm not going to wait for you to get out," he waved his arms to either side and ice spikes emerged from his arms, colliding with the circular walls on either side of the man in the white cloak. Huge waves of ice started forming out of the walls and rushing towards the center where they merged with each other around Dello's body.

Most people with slight Observational Haki couldn't feel the man any longer inside the huge mass of ice. They definitely couldn't see him.

Sai and Sanji both relaxed and sat back in their chairs, but Zoro turned to his captain and muttered, "You can still feel that right?" Luffy nodded and Usopp overheard the conversation, staring down in shock that the opponent might still be alive in there.

The ground below them started to shake and everyone in the room heard the loud cracking sound coming from the ice area. A large crack started moving down from the top of the oddly shaped ice chunk and moved down until it sliced through the entire thing. White light shone through the cracks and more appeared all over the ice before the thing shattered and the room was filled with the blinding light.

It died down and everyone looked towards the source of the still dazzling light. In place of the Beast Pirate they saw before, was now a majestic creature basked in light that glowed all around him. Dello's head transformed into a large curved head with a yellow beak sticking out of the front of his still human face. Around his face was no longer blonde hair, but white feathers that surrounded him. He was standing on two legs covered in golden hair and his torso looked similar though it was mainly covered by his cloak that now seemed to be blowing in the wind rushing around because of his power.

"Whoa," Franky said in awe. The pirate before them was surrounded by white light and two large white wings sprouted from his back and extended twelve feet in either direction. With one flap of his massive wingspan, all the crushed ice around him flew off and slammed into Kuzan who just let the pieces smash straight through him and create holes in his body made entirely of ice.

White Gryphon Dello stayed in mid-air and gazed down with sharper eyes than before. The yellow irises had a small black pupil in the middle, and they darted around the ice area that Kuzan made his way to. "There you are," the yellow beak on the glowing bird turned black and it dove down towards a section of the ice.

The ice Logia eater was sliding his way through the ground with the help of his power, but Dello had too good of Observational Haki to be deterred. Aokigi saw him coming and unmerged himself with the ice, dodging to the left to move out of the way. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't fast enough.

As he dodged the beak, one of Dello's hands, (that were now talons), smashed into Kuzan's left leg. The former admiral tumbled across the ice and Dello stared down at the ice below him. "I used Haki in that attack," he stated. There was no confusion in his voice, he knew he didn't mess up, that attack shouldn't have broken him into ice; it should have cut through his skin.

The crowd looked down as the cloak on Kuzan had been torn off. The Straw Hats had already seen this, but for most others, what they saw shocked them. Even his opponent lowered his jaw a little as he stared at Kuzan without the coat. The tall man was wearing a white tank top and long black pants underneath his green coat, but now the left pant leg was torn off and everyone could see the blank space underneath it.

Dello looked higher up and saw huge burn marks covering the entire right shoulder and side of Kuzan, along with his right hand. He wore a blue beanie over his curly hair, and the man's eyes were calm as he looked back at his opponent. Ice started to extend from below his hip down where his left leg should be. He created a prosthetic and stared back at a surprised Dello, "Oh, I forgot we haven't seen each other for a few years."

"Yeah," the man responded, picking back up his sword in his right hand. His arms were very muscular and were coated in gold fur, while his legs ended in three large, sharp talons. "Don't think I'll take it easy on you just because you're a cripple."

"Now that wouldn't be fun would it?" Aokigi said and he grinned. Most of the room was shocked at how casually the two were talking to each other. The competitive looks in their eyes grew as Dello lifted off the ground and his white feathers started exuding bright light around him. His head didn't look tangible anymore, more like a mass of energy above his fur that looked to be hardening to a more solid gold than just as a color of fur.

Kuzan matched his rise by pressing a hand on the ground and creating a wide pillar of ice that lifted him up. The pillar was thin at the top, just wide enough for the tall man to stand on it, but the bottom widened out so it covered the entire ice section of the arena.

Usopp looked back and forth between the two men whose powers were making the building shake. His eyes were wide and he was shaking in his seat just like Chopper and Nami.

"I wonder if these two have a deeper history." Robin stated as she watched. They seemed a little too chummy though it made sense. Aokigi's had to fight him with the obligation to kill or capture every time they've met. This is the first time they really get to fight on even terms, one trying to defeat the other just to prove who's the best.

"Th-this is a first round match?" Nami stuttered. "What are the later rounds going to be like?"

"You can't base how strong some of the people here are by how far they make it in the tournament Nami-swaaaan. I'm sure you've seen a few fighters who have made it on who wouldn't have lasted a few seconds with either Kuzan or Dello." Sanji looked back away from the beautiful woman to the fighters staring at each other. Ice continued to climb around the walls and spread out so it covered the entire lake now and parts of the remaining two sections. "The bracket was set up randomly though, which allows some weaker fighters through, but keeps every round interesting."

Zoro was staring ahead at the fighters and all three of his swords were itching for a fight. "Not yet," he put a hand on the hilts. Sandai Kitetsu was begging to be let loose while the other ones were almost as desperate. The amount of blood being spilt in the room was making him impatient for his own fight.

"How do you think I feel?" Luffy asked his swordsman who turned to the captain. The boy in the Straw Hat was pouting and sitting with his arms crossed.

The green haired man smirked and figured it was better to have to wait for a fight and get a good one, than to get one the first matchup like his captain against a weakling. "Ha, sucks," his friend teased and Luffy looked in Zoro's eyes.

The one-eyed man had a huge smirk on his face and Luffy had to ask, "Who did you get for the first round?"

"Someone I've wanted to fight," he started, "for a long time."

"Hawk-Eye?" his captain asked.

Zoro sweatdropped, "No, he already went." Though I may have to fight him later on...

"Chopper?" Luffy asked again and everyone stared at him.

"Ah! You don't have me right?!" the little reindeer panicked.

"Didn't you say you were up against a guy named Fu?" Usopp asked him.

"Oh," Chopper scratched the back of his head, "yeah, I forgot."

"You'll just have to see for yourself," Zoro told his captain who frowned and pouted more in his seat. All their talking stopped instantly as Kuzan and Dello flew towards each other with amazing speed and their fists collided. Dello's had a huge aura of white light behind it, while the ice-man's was coated in frozen water in the shape of a bear's face. The shockwave knocked anyone leaning forward in their seats back so their backs were pressed against the cushions behind them.

The two started punching and kicking in midair, neither one faltering or looking like they were about to fall. Aokigi dodge a two handed punch down from Dello by shooting a blast of ice below him to force him up. The Beast Pirate wasn't going to wait though, and both of his wings slammed down on Kuzan's head, which shattered into ice. While his head was reforming, Dello created a black fist where his golden paw was and he smashed it forward. "Black Claw!"

Even without his eyes, Kuzan used Observational Haki and was already dodging before the words came out of the man's mouth. The taller figure flipped over the hand and grabbed Dello's wrist with both hands, kicking the Gryphon in the face and shooting him like a missile into the wall of the dirt area. He dropped down to the side of his ice mountain and started skidding down on an ice snowboard he made himself.

While sliding down the mountain, he formed a dozen ice spikes in his hands and threw them one at a time as fast as bullets towards the hole in the wall where dust was floating up. Each of the spears crashed into the dust cloud and disappeared inside, no one could see whether or not they hit their mark. The cloud began to clear and the ground shook as a foot stepped down on it. Dello made his way out of the carnage and four spears of ice were sticking out of his chest, blood seeping down him.

Kuzan threw the last one in his hands and it was about to hit the Gryphon in the face. Dello's right hand shot up and caught the spike in the middle, the point of it only centimeters from the center between his eyes. "Rarrr!" he crushed the spike and both halves dropped down to the ground. With his left arm, he swiped down and broke off all the ice shards so they weren't protruding from him anymore, but the points were all still stuck in his skin, causing more blood to seep out.

Dello's wings began to glow like his head was before. They lifted him up into the air and he stared down at Kuzan, his beak curved downwards in a scowl. "Eeckaww!" The bird lion swooped down and swiped with his hands, but as Kuzan dodged, he grasped the tall former admiral by his shoulders. Dello's hardened black talons gripped into Aokigi's shoulders and dug into his skin while lifting him up.

The admiral grabbed the legs holding him in the sky and began freezing them. Dello realized ice was encroaching up his body and he thought fast. The Gyphon used one flap of his giant wings to shatter the ice covering a portion of the lake below him. Kuzan saw what was happening and pushed more ice out onto his opponent. Before the ice could get to Dello's hands, he let go of Kuzan with the last strength in his frozen legs and the man started to fall.

The Mythical Zoan type then flipped in midair so he was dive-bombing the falling former Marine and he pulled back both of his fists. They hardened while he was dropping, but Kuzan wasn't going to go down without a fight. The man without wings held up his arms and large ice spikes started emerging from his arms, legs, chest, and face. The spikes got larger and larger as he fell, all pointing up at the sky and the approaching enemy. Dello dodged the first spike as it came up at him, and he kept flying down faster than before. His golden fur was hard, but not hard enough to break through the ice no problem.

When he finally crashed into a large shard of ice coming out of the center of his opponent's chest, it hurt a lot to break through it and shatter the entire pillar to keep flying down. "Diving Black Hammer!" He slammed both of his black fists forward and they smashed through the incoming ice spike and he flew faster down towards his enemy.

Kuzan's eyes went wide as Dello got feet away from him and they both hovered inches above the lake. His opponent's hands collided with his chest when they were about to collide with the water and everything else seemed to freeze. "You should have realized it sooner," some in the crowd froze and turned their heads in slow motion away from the point where Dello collided with his enemy.

One of the huge broken off pieces of ice from Aokigi's body was falling above the two of them, and it started to reform. The first thing that emerged from it was a leg, lifted a few feet above Dello's back. The Gryphon had too much momentum in his dive-bomb and could barely turn his head away from the huge chunk of ice that looked less and less like a smirking Kuzan every second.

The chunk he hit with his Armament Haki wasn't Kuzan at all, but a substitute. Only a handful of people in the room were able to see what was going on in the one second while they were floating above the hole in the lake. To everyone else, the two men descending from the air moved so fast that neither could avoid slamming straight into the lake, and a huge splash came out and soaked the air.

Luffy and Zoro watched the one second without turning to the other to see if they could tell what was happening. If they tried to look away, they would have missed it completely. Kuzan emerged from the end of the extended leg and the foot rose higher above his opponent. "Shi..." Dello started to say as his eyes darted away from the shattering piece of ice below him. Kuzan's real leg slammed into Dello's back so hard, that along with his momentum, it was impossible for the man not to collide with the water and slam right into the bottom of the lake.

"Whoa," Luffy and his swordsman both uttered as the Gryphon was sent flying into the ground so hard that the arena shook and the island below them was probably shaking as well.

"Is it a tie?" Nami asked, wondering what had happened.

"No," Sanji mumbled. He had seen something right before the two crashed into the water, but it happened so fast he could barely see it. When he looked down at his captain and the shitty swordsman in the seats in front of him though, he knew they'd seen what happened. He looked up at the wall of water that shot up after they slammed into the lake, and the water was starting to rain back down now instead of shooting up.

"Look!" One of the Blackbeard Pirates near them pointed and called out. "There's a figure in the water."

"Winner:" the majority of the room stared up at the speakers and then looked back down at the water as it fell. "Kuzan!"