Because of Elbaf's rules, the two mighty giants did at least have to go through with the duel before any negotiations could be made. The titanic battle shook the ground and turned nearby trees to splinters and any boulders they hit to rubble. Usopp was in awe at the incredible bravery and skill the two friends displayed.
"This is intense. Every hit is designed to be a mortal blow, never giving an inch. Now this is a real battle between men! Both of them flying a warrior's flag in their heart, one they don't want anyone to destroy."
"Yeah, it's so cool!" Calvin beamed. "I never get tired of watching them fight!"
"Some might call it stupid, and it probably is. But they have a warrior's pride, so they won't let that stop them until someone gives them a very good reason." Luffy noted.
"That was surprisingly insightful of you, sister." Bamia acknowledged with her usual dry tone.
"This is who you want to be, isn't it?" Kaya asked Usopp with a smile.
Usopp nodded. "This is exactly the image of my dream. To be a brave warrior of the sea! Whatever village they came from, I wanna go there someday."
"That's gonna take a while. If I remember correctly, Elbaf isn't even in this half of the Grand Line." Draco said.
"Everyone!" Penny suddenly spoke up. "My sensors have picked up two hostiles nearby!"
Rolf looked up. "The nefarious beasts! They have escaped!"
"Rosa, Mifune, come with me!" Hilda said urgently. "We're checking Merry to make sure they didn't tamper with anything!"
The two nodded and followed Hilda as the duel continued. Vivi realized what Rolf was talking about and noticed the Unluckies.
"Oh no! Does this mean Baroque Works has our faces now?"
"Doubt it. We made sure to confiscate all their drawing equipment." Nami said.
Suddenly, the fight ended in a draw as the two giants punched each other in the face.
"IT'S A DRAW!" Calvin cheered, jumping in the air.
"That's the 73,466th draw so far," Broggy noted.
"Yeah, it seems we still can't settle it with just fighting," Dorry agreed.
They both fell over, exhausted. Then their serious faces turned into grins as they laughed together before getting up. It was then that Broggy noticed Draco amongst the group as he came over.
"Hey, it is Draco! Luffy over there mentioned they were on the same crew."
"Good to see you again, Broggy," Draco smiled before his face turned serious.
"Guys, we have a problem! Someone rigged one of our alcohol barrels to explode when ingested!" Rosa called out as she, Hilda, and Mifune ran back over.
"Now who would go and waste good alcohol like that?" Dorry wondered.
The group then heard two new voices laughing, coming from a certain otter and vulture that had landed.
"Heads up, gang!" Carue cried.
The supersonic duck got in front of everyone and quickly began swiping his wings, sending razor-sharp feathers as Miss Friday opened fire with miniguns under her wings. By the end of it, none of the Straw Hats or Giants were touched.
"Whoa!" Fuu yelped, noticing some of the feathers that hit the ground had two halves of a bullet next to them. "That's some fine featherwork!"
Mr. 13 quickly pulled out a couple of clawed shells for defense, only for Carue to flap his wings and create a razor wind to slice the shells in half.
"Thay, this power is pretty keen! Now I can really put the SONIC in supersonic duck!"
Mr. 13 and Miss Valentine paled, now realizing that they had officially bitten off more than they could chew as Carue grinned.
"Now lookie here!" he started, stretching his wings out and flinging wind blades they narrowly dodged. "I can understand trying to take over Alabasta. I can understand working for Crocodile! Hell, I can understand the trying to off giants and silencing kids! But making Vivi cry? Go underground and fight for her people when she should be enjoying her teenhood?! UNFORGIVEABLE!?"
He then blizted and pecked the unluckies on the head before cutting off a branch to beat them, them unleashing more wind blades….
That compeltly missed. The Unluckies smirked before Carue then pointed downwards with a smirk. They looked to were he was pointing….
Oh.
There was no ground for them to stand on. And with that, a quick clutch and a comedic scream, the Unluckies fell to the ground, dead as doornails.
"Well, now Rolf shall feast on the hides of these beasts that dared prey on the honorable duel of Giants!" Rolf said as he hoisted up the corpses to clean and prep.
"Good job, Carue!" Vivi said as she hugged her friend. "Here. Your favorite."
She got out a special toasted bread that got Carue excited like a dog being offered his favorite treat.
"Oh boy, oh boy! Katorean Bread!"
He picked up the toasted bread and gobbled it down, making Vivi giggle as she petted him on the head.
"Luckily they only got one barrel," Mifune said as he brought an alcohol barrel over. "And they rigged it with various bits of biomatter from an unconscious Gem."
"Eww..." Melony gagged, having since woken up again.
Dorry took one of the untainted barrels and chugged it.
"Ah! It's been forever since I've had a good drink."
Broggy grinned. "Tell me about it. So, I'm guessing you also remember why we started this duel in the first place?"
"Yes, the Sea Kings we caught. I talked it over with these people and we figured the best way to call the duel off is to figure out how to declare it a permanent draw." Dorry said.
"I think the answer is right in front of your faces," Draco spoke up. "You've been fighting... How many duels now?"
"Their last one was the 73,466th. And it ended in a draw." Calvin said. "Trust me, I did the math...and I HATE math."
Ben nodded. "And that right there is the crux of the problem. Neither of you can seem to triumph over the other. Almost like Elbaf's god can't label either of you as righteous in this argument. You're both equal in strength."
That seemed to turn on a light bulb in the two giants' heads. They turned and looked over to the two giant Sea King skulls. Stripped of flesh after a century, it was more clear that they were indeed the exact same size.
"Could it be...our duel has been a draw from the beginning?" Broggy realized.
"That's why it's taken a hundred years to settle it! Elbaf couldn't choose which of us was righteous because our argument was moot from the start!" Dorry said.
The two friends hugged each other in relief, crying tears of joy.
"We don't have to kill each other!"
"We can go back to the sea together!"
"WE CAN FINALLY REUNITE THE GIANT WARRIOR PIRATES!"
"YAA-HOO!" Calvin cheered before hugging Hobbes.
"Awww, I love a happy ending!" Ed smiled.
"Hey..." Fuu suddenly spoke up. "Has anyone seen Mifune?"
-OP-
"Shouldn't the Unluckies have reported in by now?" Miss Goldenweek wondered.
"Hmm, yes. Something must have happened to them." Mr. 3 noted. "Even if we assume their plan to use something of Mr. 5 to rig the alcohol to damage Dorry the Blue Ogre enough for capture failed, they should have at least let us know."
"I wonder what's taking them..."
Suddenly, something sliced through Mr. 3's wax house, startling the two. A tall shadowy figure landed down with a familiar set of swords strapped to his back.
"Y-You...!" Mr. 3 gasped. "Mr. 7?!
"That was the name I gave you, yes," Mifune said as he took out the twin Kiba swords. "But you should address me by my REAL name...Nobunaga Mifune."
He then walked forward, a feral grin on his face…which then softened when he saw Miss Golden…No. Marianne. Marianne cowering.
"…Get out of here, kid." Mifune demanded.
"…W-what?"
"I'm only out to kill Crocodile. Not a kid. Now, scram."
Marianne hesitated. She stood no chance against Mifune. But Mr. 3 was also there…
"Fuu and Rosa should be around." Mifune said, knowing they liker her. "They'll take care of you…"
His feral grin returned
"While I take care of this overcomplicating wannabe."
Marianne wisely bolted as quick as she could, winding up in Fuu's arms.
"Mifune, what's going on?!" Fuu asked as she and the Straw Hats and Giants came over.
"You!" Mr. 3 pointed at the group. "You just ruined a superb and ingenious plan! We were going to rake in a good 200 million Berris taking down those giants!"
He shrank down when Dorry and Broggy glared at him.
"You were the one who intended to sabotage our honor duel?!"
"That carries a hefty penalty by Elbaf's rules!"
"If you're going to deal with this idiot, allow me..." Bamia said as she stepped forward. "As the Quartermaster of this crew, I don't take kindly when things are sabotaged."
"Yeah, Sis has that compulsive need to make sure everything is in place when it comes to supplies." Luffy clarified to the others.
Mr. 3 smirked. "How about you cool off!? CANDLE LOCK!"
He smirked when his wax creation locked Bamia's arms together. However, Mifune dashed past her with the Kiba swords, and the wax crumbled to bits.
"You forgot about me, asshole."
"Miss Goldenweek!"
Miss Goldenweek quickly got out a paint set as Mister 3 started generating wax with his Wax-Wax Fruit.
"Keep me soaked, Toots!" Gottfried called out to Carmen.
Carmen nodded and created a wall of liquid around the Transponder Snail as Miss Goldenweek started spreading various color paints around while Mr. 3 created numerous wax models of himself, all painted by Miss Goldenweek to look like him.
"CANDLE CLONES!"
"What's going on?" Nojiko asked.
Mr. 3 chuckled. "Miss Goldenweek is a skilled realist painter. And her real ability should be kicking in now."
Suddenly, everyone except Draco, Ben, Mifune, Penny, Bamia, Carmen, and Gottfried started experiencing different emotions. Luffy and Sonson were laughing, Sanji and Double-D were crying, Usopp and Eddy were raging, etc.
"The paint... She's using paint to hypnotize them!" Penny realized.
"It's my Color Trap. I can paint symbols on or near a person to make them feel different emotions." Miss Goldenweek explained. "Green of Calm, Blue of Sadness, Red of Anger, Yellow of Joy. If I wanted I could create a black symbol to make you all turn on each other."
"Oh sweetie, you shouldn't have said that..." Carmen smirked. "Because if there's one thing I know...it's that paint isn't waterproof!"
Carmen sent out jets of liquid from her palms that washed away all the paint, including the ones on the wax clones. Miss Goldenweek gasped as her palette was washed clean of all paint.
"Awwww..." Fuu pouted. "And here I was hoping to use my Pharm-Pharm Fruit to create a special medicine that could undo and make you all resistant to the effects."
"Well, next time, for sure!" Hilda smiled reassuringly. "Let's get smashing!"
Thanks to their large numbers, the Straw Hats were able to tear apart all the fakes until they zeroed in on the real Mr. 3, who panicked as he formed a wax armor set for himself.
"CANDLE CHAMPION!"
"Impressive. Who knew you could make something like that with wax." Double-D noted. "Then again, wax sculptures are a thing..."
"Just try and get through this. You're going to pay. Pay for ruining my chance to unleash my beloved Candle Service Set!" Mr. 3 declared. "As the upper layers start to burn the wax slowly drips onto the victims, solidifying them inside and out and wax figures, creating a lovely display of despair!"
That shitty technique?" Mifune scoffed. "What's the point of it anyway? Why not just kill them if you can create enough wax to cover them inside and out?"
"Such asinine thinking!" Mr. 3 admonished. "For a superb mind such as I, to create the most beautiful form of death is an art! But I wouldn't expect such a simpler mind to understand."
"Oh really...?"
Mr. 3 barely had time to see a maddened Mifune swing Shibuki, the tags instantly destroying his armor as Ben closed the gap and delivered a brutal punch that had the genius cough up blood…which then started to harden. His eyes watered in terror for a few brief moments before Ben grinned and dispelled all the blood.
"Think you get the picture now, savvy?"
"See what you're putting your victims through? A true superb assassin has no need to be artistic." Mifune pointed out. "If you want to kill someone, fine. But don't try to be artsy about it. If you can kill a person, just do it. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and will likely wind up failing sooner or later."
Mr. 3 was freaking out at being surrounded when suddenly a whirlwind of sand hit the area around him. Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, Mr. 3 made a run for it.
"What was that?" Vivi asked.
"A Devil Fruit user, most likely. Some sort of sand manipulation." Noire noted.
Zoro nodded. "And judging from the fact that they used that power to help Mr. 3, they're part of Baroque Works."
This was almost lost when Mifune let out a growl.
"You okay, Mifune?" Fuu worriedly asked her friend.
"I know that sand anywhere..." The Swordsman growled. "Crocodile..."
"Why didn't they save the kid?" Heart asked.
"I'm sixteen!" Miss Goldenweek clarified in annoyance.
"Coulda fooled us." Kuina chuckled as she messed with the kids' hair.
"Mister 3 was probably more valuable to the group than Miss Goldenweek," Vivi suggested. "He's actually weaker physically than Mr. 4, but he's far more intelligent to compensate."
"Why bother? She's a slimey girl!" Calvin gagged.
"You didn;'t have any problems with us." Ruby Heart smirked along with Rosa.
"What, you don't like us?" She cooed cutely, making Calvin tense.
"Y-you guys are okay…I guess…" Calvin started, fighting back a blush as all the Straw Hats chuckled at him before his anger returned. "But she tried to help nkill Doggy and Boogy! With lame paint!:
Marianne cringed angrily at that.
"Listen here, ya little…!" She glared at the little boy, who glared back,
"What ya going to? Paint me to death?!"
"I might, can and have!"
"Bring it on, I ain'gt scared to hit a girl! These hands are rated E for every…!"
BONK!
"Knock it off!" Axol and Ruby both demanded, the former then offering Marianne a canvas and some markers.
"Go nuts."
MAriannae looked at Axol. Then the canvas. Then the markers. Then Axol again
"W-whaty should I..?'
"Anything." Axol smiled, motioning everyone else away. "No interruptions. No orders. Just…do."
Tentatively, worriedly, Marianne began to draw an outline. Than color it She and the others lost track time as she lost herself in her art, finally enjoying after so long. A smile overtook her face as she worked….
When she was done; she had created a beautfil picture of herself, Miss All Sunday (Sanji's oogling of whom went ignored) and the Straw Hats having a picnic in a grassy field at sunrise.
-OP-
Mr. 3 managed to return to the remains of his wax house and got out a Transponder Snail.
"Mr. 3 to Mr. 0 reporting."
"Confirmed, Mr. 3. I felt the special sand trap I placed on you going off. I take it the mission failed."
"Yes, apologies for that."
"This is why I told you not to waste time with artistic assassination methods, you idiot. You're lucky you're indispensable to my operation."
Mr. 3 winced. "What are my further orders?"
"Right now the schedule for my plan is too far along to continue bothering to wipe out the opposition. 'Do you have the Eternal Pose for Alabasta?"
Mr. 3 looked through the wreckage and found the Eternal Pose.
"Yes, it seems the Unluckies delivered it before being compromised. Thankfully it seems to be intact after that damn duck slaughtered them."
"I'll wait until you return for a full debriefing on how the hell you uttered that sentence. For now, just return to Alabasta. We'll finish our operation there."
"And the others?"
"Consider them compromised, but take no further action. Leave their fate up to those rookie pirates."
Mr. 3 nodded. "Very well. I'll return at once."
He headed for the shore and created a wax boat to sail off from Little Garden.
-OP-
With things winding down, Dorry and Broggy inspected their weapons.
"Seems even if one of us had dealt the other a death blow it wouldn't have been fatal. The blades have grown too blunt to deal more than a flesh wound to a giant." Dorry noted.
"We've been using them to successfully hunt the dinosaurs of this island for so long I guess neither of us noticed until now." Broggy realized.
"Well, I'm glad things have started to settle down here!" Luffy smiled.
Sonson nodded. "We should be heading on to Alabasta soon. We still need to get Vivi home."
"Hope you have an Eternal Pose to get you there. The normal Log Pose needs a whole year to record this island's magnetic field." Broggy said. "Both our camps are full of human skulls from those who weren't able to last the entire time. Either eaten by dinosaurs, suffering from the heat and dehydration, or else just trying to attack us."
"Thank goodness we were able to keep Calvin well-fed and hydrated." Droggy smiled as he patted the boy on the head. "Fortunately, not everyone ends up that way. I remember this one crew about twenty years ago that managed to stay the full year, just partying and enjoying plenty of dino meat with us. They even cheered us on during our regular duels. What was their captain's name again?"
"Roger, if I remember, Gol D. Roger. Said he was searching for a legendary treasure said to be at the end of the Grand Line." Broggy said.
Luffy beamed. "Yeah, the One Piece! We're looking for it too. To follow in Roger's footsteps."
"He did ultimately find that treasure, becoming King of the Pirates as a result." Ben nodded.
"Well, talk about a meeting of fate!" Dorry grinned. "Seems you're going on a similar route he took. Hopefully, your journey will be just as successful. And once we reunite our old crew, you can count on us to be your stalwart allies!"
"And…!" Broggy said, lifting Calvin and Hobbes upwards. "My boy? How would you and Hobbes like to join them?"
"Wha-what? Really?" Calvin asked. "B-but…!"
"You've grown as strong as this island will allow. If you really want to growe up and be like us you need to see the world." Dorry smiled. "And yes, Hobbes is worldly, but he could do with some learning as well."
"HA!" Calvin cackled at his toy tiger. "Ya hear that Hobbes?! You DON'T know everything!"
"Never said I did." Hobbes replied. "And you do realize you'll have to work for your keep?"
"Well duh!" Calvin said. "I can sweep and mop and help wherever! I DID do the laundry around here!"
"…Are we seriously letting a kid on here?" Eddy asked.
"I see nothing wrong, beyond finding space." Penny smiled.
"…I've missed Apis." Hilda admitted. "A little sib on board would be nice."
"It'll be like us sailing with Ace and Sabo!" Luffy beamed, motioing the boy on. "C'mon Cal! You and Hobbes are now Strawhat pirates!"
Nojiko then noticed Nami seemed to be a bit woozy, moving to make sure she was okay.
"What's wrong?"
"I dunno, I got bitten by this weird bug a while ago and it's like I'm burning up..."
Broggy frowned. "You might want to find a good doctor quickly. The insects on this island carry ancient diseases that can wreak havoc on human bodies. Me and Dorry must have been bitten thousands of times over the last hundred years, but our larger bodies mean we can just sleep off the diseases like a human does a common cold."
"Thank goodness that Calvin never gotten bitten," Dorry added. "I don't know how we could have treated him."
"Looks like we're gonna have to wait a little longer before heading to Alabasta," Draco noted.
"Sorry, Vivi, but we can't risk the health of any member of our crew." Ben apologized.
Vivi nodded. "I understand. If I recall, the nearest port to here is Drum Island. Hopefully, we can find a doctor there."
Dorry picked up his sword. "If you're heading off the western coast, then me and Broggy can repay our debt to you for helping us resolve our duel."
"Right, there's a dangerous creature out in that sea called the Island Eater. It's swallowed many ships trying to leave the island before." Broggy said. "But we'll make sure it's claimed its last pirate crew for you."
"Well, looks like you're coming with us, kiddo." Ruby smiled.
"I told you, I'm sixteen!" Marianne huffed.
"Yeah, but I'm eighteen. I outrank you in the age department."
With that, Calvin jumped onwards, waving goodbye to his adoptive giant fathers as the ship sailed away.
"We'll meet again! Don't know where, don't know when…All I know we'll meet again soime sunny day!" Ed, Ussop and Hobbes all sang as the ship sailed away.
The Going Merry took off, and as it reached the edge of the island, a giant goldfish suddenly emerged from the ocean.
"I'm suddenly reminded of that one story you told me regarding a giant goldfish and how you mistook its droppings for an island," Kaya noted.
Usopp laughed. "Oh wow, you remember that one! I didn't really think it was one of my better stories."
"Poyo!" Kirby beamed.
"Well, it was one of Kirby's favorites." Kaya giggled, rubbing her son's head.
Just as the Island Eater was about to swallow the Going Merry, the two giants sliced it open, letting the ship sail out unharmed. The Straw Hats were free to continue on to the next leg of their journey. And hopefully, find Nami a doctor in case she really did contract a dangerous illness.
Dorry and Broggy looked at their destroyed weapons after killing the Island Eater and watched the Going Merry sail off into the horizon. Every volcano on the island erupted at once as if to signal the end of their hundred-year duel.
"It seems Elbaf is satisfied with the outcome we came to," Broggy noted.
Dorry nodded. "Now we can reclaim what we left behind, thanks to the Straw Hat Pirates. May the god of war Elbaf watch over their journey, and bring them countless victories!"
Knightmare Lord A/N:
With the Unluckies dead, that'll put a damper on Baroque Works for sure. We also get a bit more insight into Mifune's grudge against Crocodile and Calvin, Hobbes, and Miss Goldenweek join the crew!
Also, Calvin will eat a Devil Fruit and the rest of the crew will eventually be able to see Hobbes in his true form. How so? Well, that'll have to wait until we get to Alabasta.
What's your thoughts on this chapter, Mrotrax? Anything catch your eye?
Mrotrax A/N:
Liked how Carue did a cartoonish kill and looking very forward to seeing Calvin interact with the others.
Out of curiosity, doe any readers want to see the Crocodile vs. Seven Swordsmen battle? Or learn just who the Chimera Carpet crew he seems so worried about is? Well, if so? Leave a reply in a review and once we get to the final battles of Alabasta, I'll write them up!
Until then, stay safe!