Chapter 13:
The shock finally wore off and that match was exactly the way they wanted the fights to end. There wasn't a better match all day and Aokigi's fight was the closest thing to it. Over a thousand pirates roared at the top of their lungs and started chanting the swordsman's name. Chopper ran out of the stands and down to the arena where he avoided looking at Enel's corpse and ran straight to his scary friend.
He approached Zoro slowly and then shook his head to get rid of the completely rational fear of the green haired man. Although, after all those burns, Zoro's hair looked more black than anything at the moment, along with most of his charred skin.
The other Straw Hats had faith in their doctor so they just stayed in the bleachers and kept cheering for the man. Sanji was one of the loudest shouters though it was hard to tell over everyone else yelling.
Shanks nudged his first mate and saw Ben was smirking wide. He was ready for a good fight with this swordsman in the future and it was going to be a blast. The whole Akagami crew were pretty surprised by the level of strength of Luffy's number two guy and were feeling pretty proud of the kid they once knew.
"With the end of that last match, it's time for..."
"DINNER!" Luffy yelled and there was almost as loud cheering as there was for Zoro around the arena. These fighters were starving after their matches and the ones who didn't fight were almost as hungry.
"The mess hall couldn't have survived Enel's attacks," a pirate said while standing up next to the Straw Hats.
The navigator heard the pirate and frowned. Oh yeah, Nami turned to the others and was going to tell them not to get too excited when the announcer's voice cut her off. "Everyone head down to the mess hall. There's Barbecue for dinner!"
Sanji scratched his stubble and smirked, "Wonder what type of barbecue they're making?" He started walking down the steps with an uneasy crowd. The mess hall should be, well, a mess after that last fight or even some of the ones before it.
"Mmm, I can't wait," Usopp said rubbing his grumbling stomach. Vivi giggled next to him and then they made eye contact. Both of them thought back to earlier when they saw the guards lurking around. It still unnerved them, but they were surrounded by powerful friends on all sides, they could handle it.
Luffy took one last look over to the arena where Chopper was fixing up Zoro on the stone rubble. It must be bad if the reindeer wasn't willing to take him to the infirmary first, but the rubber man wasn't worried about Zoro. He grinned and felt proud of his nakama as he turned and ran down the stairs shouting 'meat,' 'dinner,' and 'barbecue,' over and over.
Chopper was looking over Zoro's injuries and started wrapping, well everywhere. There wasn't a part of the swordsman's body that wasn't injured but slowly the swordsman was shaking his head and groaning as he shook awake. "I need some sake," he moaned and got up while Chopper was midway through wrapping him up.
"What are you doing?!" the reindeer shouted in a high pitched voice. He turned huge and held Zoro down as he started wrapping more bandages around his arrogant nakama.
"I can't walk in there looking like this," Zoro said and immediately ripped off some of the bandages Chopper wrapped him in. "I'll look weak in front of the competition," his evil grin was back but the doctor wasn't having any of it and turned into Heavy Point, giving Zoro a hard bonk on the head that knocked back out the swordsman so he could keep working.
Downstairs, the fighters were pretty surprised the ceiling of the mess hall had survived. They didn't travel too far down the stairs and the craters above should have broken through, but none did. There wasn't a single scrape in the room which to some people was less surprising and more suspicion-raising.
Nami sat down at the table they were at before with her food while Luffy went across the room and sat at Shanks's table. Most of the other Straw Hats were going around and sitting with friends. Robin was sitting with the large group of cloaked men and Sanji was sitting next to Viola at the Dressrosa table. Chopper came down by himself after carrying a bandaged up Zoro to the infirmary and then he went and sat with Vivi and the Alabasta group.
She looked around and didn't see Usopp anywhere and sighed. He still won't confront his father, she saw the blonde haired sniper of Shanks's crew looking around and the man also looked disappointed. Franky was sitting with the Franky Family and he was patting Mozu on the back for a hard fought battle against Pell. Finally someone came and sat down at her table and she smiled at the skeleton who took a seat next to her.
"Hello Nami-san," the skeleton who was acting like a gentleman greeted. "What is on your mind?" Brook could tell something was bothering her by the way she was looking around the room.
Everyone around her was laughing, eating, and having a good time, but her mind was wandering. All the excitement from the battles before had her too involved and she knew she'd missed out on important factors that would have set off her internal alarms immediately. "These guards, they are a little too strong, even for the New World," Nami began, "We don't know who the man in charge is and we're surrounded by Emperors and former and future enemies. I'm just a little nervous." She looked up and realized her mistake instantly.
Brook was shaking in his seat after she laid all that out in front of him. He too was caught up in all the action and fighting that he hadn't been paying much attention to how much danger they were in. His teeth were chattering and his skull looked a little blue from fear. "Sorry," Nami held out her hands, "It's not like we don't have a lot of friends here too." The skeleton calmed down a little and they looked at all the tables their friends were at.
Nami found Jimbei at a table and was going to smile seeing he had a group of friends too, but the man wasn't standing at the Whitebeard Pirates' table as he was earlier. Now he'd made his way across the room and she could see him in heated argument with another fishman. Arlong. Her eyes widened as Jimbei reached down and grabbed his brethren by the scruff of his shirt, pulling him in and whispering in his ear.
Chew and Kuroobi each moved to stand but Arlong held up a hand for the two fishmen next to him to stay seated. The two men who once called each other brothers were glaring hard into each other's eyes and then Arlong pushed away Jimbei's hand. "Never thought you'd love the humans so much Jimbei. Have you forgotten what they did to aniki?"
The whale shark fishman froze. He reminded himself of it every day, but that was different than hearing it from someone else who loved Fisher Tiger just as much. Arlong looked like he was seriously pained in the moment as he brought it back up and the two fishmen behind him looked hurt too. None of them wanted to think about their captain, their older brother. He raised them all, orphans in the fishman district and he took them all into his crew. "Of course I didn't forget," Jimbei muttered and then glared angrily at his brother again, "but it doesn't mean I'll accept what you've done as retribution. I met Hachi," the other three went wide-eyed that their fourth member who they couldn't find during the escape was still alive and they smiled, "he regretted everything he did in East Blue. Everything he did to Nami," the fishman didn't turn around but he knew the woman was staring right at them.
The other fishmen didn't know what to think, but anger took over and they growled at Hachi for showing such weakness. When Jimbei continued though, they knew their friend really had changed, "He was shot, dying at the foot of a Celestial Dragon, and all he could say was how sorry he was to Nami. How much he regretted what he put her through," Jimbei shook his head at the shocked men in front of him and turned around, "He survived, but I only hope that you three can have a similar redemption before you leave this world. Especially you, Arlong."
Jimbei walked away and then sat down at the table with Nami and Brook. The skeleton knew a little of what happened to Nami from their visit to Fishman Island and from two years before when they met Hachi, but he was still in the dark as to why the woman and fishman made eye contact for several seconds after Jimbei sat at the table. Finally Nami smiled at him and looked down at her food, "Thank you." She was barely audible, but Jimbei heard it and his own guilt for what happened to her lessened a little.
Loudspeakers turned on all around the contestants and they looked up angrily, annoyed that they would try to cut their dinner this short. "Don't worry folks, take as long as you need to finish your meals. The arena is badly damaged as are some other portions of the building so repairs are taking longer than expected. So, we'll be continuing the next match first thing after breakfast tomorrow."
There were a few moans of fighters who never got their turns, but most people were fine with allowing the fights to continue tomorrow. "Until then," the speakers continued, "feel free to utilize the training room we have above the arena. It's on the top floor of the building..."
Before the speakers could finish their message, a dozen fighters stood up at the same time and glared at each other. All of them wanted to be the first one in the room and Jesus Burgess shouted out, "First one there wins!" All the men who stood up bolted for the closest exit, the seemingly childish competition all too serious for them.
Two of Buggy's crewmates leapt up and dove for the closest exit. They were the two he entered from his crew that were part of the Impel Down escapees and he smirked. His men better make it far in the tournament, he wanted that billion beri badly.
Zoro was lying in the infirmary and the speakers made him shoot out of bed and start walking towards the door. He was unsteady, but the grin spread on his face and he let himself out, walking into the hall and heading for the stairs. As he was walking there, he passed by one other man and the two of them stared at each other with interested and calm looks. Kaku grinned after he walked past Zoro towards the infirmary. He was there to check on Kalifa, but getting that close to someone he really wanted to fight made his blood pump.
When he walked into the infirmary he wasn't too surprised to find it mostly empty. All day he'd been watching fighters go in and then walk back out minutes later to watch the other fights. Kumadori was one of those who accepted his dishonorable defeat to Nico Robin and went back in the stands to watch the fights with the other CP9 members after he woke up. Sure he tried to kill himself in shame a few times, but his Tekkai started a second before and he couldn't break through his skin.
He also saw that girl with the pink hair and the long gash down her chest went back to the stands to sit with her family and the doctor who helped her earlier. By the end of Zoro's match, she was back on her feet and cheering even if it took a lot out of her. There was an unconscious man in the back left corner of the room, he remembered his name was Chess, and was easily defeated by the fishman Arlong. The guy looked pretty bad and wasn't bandaged up, it looked like no one had attempted to help him after his injury. He'll probably die in that bed.
Kaku saw the person he was looking for and walked past the two unconscious members of Don Krieg's crew, including the captain himself, and walked over to Kalifa's side. He checked her pulse and it was a little slower than it should be, but with the injury she sustained against Roz the Usurper, he was surprised it wasn't even lower. He grinned, Guess I shouldn't be surprised, she's trained hard too. Hmm, it looks like the two injured members of Kaido's crew rejoined them, he didn't see the injured Panda woman or the Gryphon who he wanted to fight.
He looked back down at Kalifa and wondered if she'd be able to watch the next day's fights. They still had two nakama in the final thirty two fights of the first round, and he knew she'd want to observe and keep tabs on all the other fighters as well. The man in the suit with the long square nose heard the door open behind him and he didn't turn around to look. His Observational Haki told him that three people were now in the room, all of whom felt rather strong.
"Who are you?" one of them asked and Kaku turned around. He was wearing all black and he glared at the men in purple who walked in the room. The one in front who asked him the question took a step back from the glare the orange haired man gave him. The staff member had a brown goatee and he scratched it while turning to the other half of the infirmary. "Nevermind," the man took a quick glance down at Kalifa before he spun and Kaku saw the small movement of his eyes.
"Hey Flint, this one's dead," one of the men stated as he stood over one of the beds. In it was one of the top executives of the Don Quixote family. He'd fought the man himself and remembered exactly where his finger went into Trebol's chest. In truth, he was trying to kill the man, but he missed the heart because of all the sticky stuff around him. He felt out with his Haki and the executive was not dead, he was asleep, or unconscious.
The man with the goatee turned and scratched his chin with a smirk. "That's too bad," he shook his head, "let's take him to Doflamingo. I'm sure their crew will want to bury him on their own terms." The man who originally pointed at Trebol had no problem lifting up the fat man and carrying him to the door while Kaku watched.
The three walked back outside the room with Kaku standing there observing all the while. He felt them outside the door and then all of a sudden, Trebol's life force was gone. The frown on Kaku's face deepened and he looked around the room at the other injured fighters. Why'd they only go for him? No, he looked back down at the woman with long blond hair who the brown haired man glanced at when he came in the room. It's a good thing I don't have a match tomorrow, wouldn't want to be tired, he sat down on the bed across from Kalifa's and kept his eyes pointed at the door.
"Zehahaha," Blackbeard walked down the empty hallway of the third floor. He'd passed his room a while ago, but he was exploring. He was planning on being the Pirate King anyway, no one could tell him where or where not to go.
The large man with the black beard and hairy chest got to the end of the hallway and reached a door that didn't have numbers on it. All the ones that did were just rooms for people to stay in, so this door intrigued him. He opened it and the fact that it was unlocked made him less interested, until he looked inside. There were staff members all over the room. It was a much larger room than his own and had dozens of hammocks hanging from the ceilings. There were televisions on the side walls where some of the staff members were staring and watching the fights of the day closely.
"Zehahahaha!" he laughed into the room and all the staff members turned at the same time. They froze at the sight in front of them and many gulped. No matter how strong they were, there was a Yonko standing in front of them. No one knew what Blackbeard was planning, or why he was staring at them so closely, but the man bellowed into the room, "Any of you know where that bastard Enel's body was taken?"
Their eyes all went wide. They all knew about the end of the War of the Best, and of Blackbeard taking the dead Whitebeard's power. A blonde man without any facial hair stepped up and stared at the man in front of him in the eyes. Just this action made the Emperor more excited about this whole tournament. "Hello, my name's Steel," the man felt it would be rude to start talking to the Yonko without at least introducing himself first, "as to your question, his body was burned since there was no crew to claim his remains and none of us wanted to bury him."
Blackbeard stared at the man for a few seconds and then started laughing in a low voice again. "Zehahaha, oh well then..." the pirate was looking around the room but the staff members turned off the television sets and many were getting up and staring at the Yonko now.
"Also, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the man named Steel continued. He was a little more muscular than some of the other men around him, but his confidence was what set him apart in Blackbeard's eyes. The Emperor stared at this man who was daring enough to tell him that and he wondered whether or not to blow the whole tournament apart right now. His crew knew that at any time an earthquake could hit and that was their signal to attack, but for now they were fine as they were. "This is a restricted area for staff personnel only."
"Oh?" Blackbeard asked and raised his voice a little. The staff members all around the room looked ready to fight and the pirate had a twang of doubt in his mind. He didn't get to where he was by acting stupid, he planned things out before he rushed into them. Let's see how strong they really are, he turned around and walked out of the room while laughing, tomorrow I'll have Shiliew and Auger determine their strength.
Sc
Luffy walked into his room and his eyes lit up as did Usopp's next to him. He hadn't seen the long nosed crew member the entire dinner, but now that they were back in their room they were excitedly jumping on their beds.
The beds were a size larger than the night before and Usopp ran into the bathroom to find it had been cleaned and there was a nicer shower installed.
In Nami's room, that shower was being utilized by a very happy navigator who just wished she'd brought some of her shampoo from the ship.
Robin enjoyed the larger beds in their room, but there was still only one blanket and her bed was springy, not nearly as nice as the one Franky made her on the ship. The archaeologist was wondering if all the rooms were nicer like theirs or if it was only for the winners of their fights.
Sanji and Zoro finally made it back to their room after spending hours up in the intense training room floors above and they found the room spotless. They remembered what the announcer said about leaving their rooms messy and they decided they'd trained enough upstairs for the night and passed out on their bigger and slightly more comfortable beds than the night before, neither even attempting to try the shower to wash off their workout sweat.
Brook and Jimbei found themselves in very much the same room they had the night before. Franky and Chopper were the same and had no idea their crewmates were living in luxury comparably. What they didn't know was that they were living in luxury compared to the people who lost round one.
Absalom was throwing pillows at Igaram who gave up and caused them to lose their mattresses altogether. All they had in their room were two cots on the floor with one sheet in between them for one of them to take. The man who looked part lion took the sheet and growled at the idiot who gave up before his match.
Rebecca and Viola's room wasn't much different than the night before. It wasn't any better, but with one loser and one winner, they cancelled each other out. The older woman was keeping a keen eye on her injured little niece. The pink haired girl wasn't completely healed from her injuries yet, and would probably have a scar for a long time to come. The wound was shallow down near her stomach and hip, but at the start near her left breast, she'd retain that mark probably forever.
"Don't worry Viola," Rebecca said as they drifted to sleep, sensing her young aunt's eyes on her, "all the best fighters have some scars," she laughed a little to herself as she thought about Zoro and Luffy, the two strongest men she knew other than her father. And he had the largest scar of them all.
A/N Hey everyone, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Wanted to start the next chapter right at the start of the fights so this one was a little short. It looks like the Straw Hats aren't the only ones noticing the guards seem to be up to something. Kaku and Blackbeard are each noticing something weird about these purple shirted minions wandering around. Why'd they kill Trebol? Who is the guy in charge? Who will Koala and Shanks be versing in the next chapter? Thanks for all the reviews you guys. I was really wondering if I wrote the fight scene well, and I'm happy by the responses:
Melashnaw
Well that was exciting
Like really exciting
REALLY REALLY OKAY?
Haha, thanks a lot!
CrazyLittleTiger
That was totally AWESOME!
Zoro's a boss!
Lightningblade49
Zoro's win is going reflect well on Luffy naturally they'll assume Luffy is an even bigger threat then zoro. Doflamingo should already know this first hand.
Yeah a lot of people in the show get surprised when they see Zoro first because they assume that he must actually be the captain, but that's until they see Luffy fight. Everyone was just shocked to see how strong he was up against such a powerful Logia that should have been "invincible..."
JoshRand1982
now that was badass. nice work on that fight. I wonder where the Rumble Rumble fruit is going to end up?
Thank you! And the second part of your comment makes me smirk since that's exactly what Blackbeard's was wondering towards the end of this chapter.
LittlemissTraffy
That finishing blow is just... damn! I can't use the right word to express to Zoro's finishing blow! It's just... well to put it awesome? Or Most awesome? I don't know! I'm trembling in excitement here! And another cliffhanger... XD
First reply-back: You're a horrible liar!
Second reply-back: Maybe to gain the loser's devil fruit power? Lol! So Enel's dead or just defeated like how Luffy kick his enemy's asses? But I can guess he's dead...
No Enel is dead as a doorknob. He got his head cut off and Zoro stands proudly back up on his feet when he hears he can go train again. glad you liked the finishing blow, it was the one attack I didn't really base off of anything and I'm glad it worked out. Didn't leave much of a cliffhanger here, but when these fights start back up next time, you're gonna be cursing my name at the points I end the chapters XD!
kid
Damn that was so fushiging epic! love it.
Haha thank you!
lany-chan
Woww this chapter's sooo thrilling! Good job!
Woohoo! Thanks for all the positive reviews guys and I'll try to keep the upcoming fights exciting! 'Till next time!
