One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-
"Looks like we'll be doing this whether we want to or not" I said, not too torn up about the game we were suddenly being thrust into against our will thanks to our captain's rash decision-making. Luffy wasn't the type to think about what the rest of us wanted—if he wanted to do something, he was going to do it.
"Should be interesting at least" Robin remarked, attempting to think positively.
"Hopefully..." I sighed.
"He's agreed to the game!" one of the men shouted, causing the rest to cheer.
-Later-
"Sausage on a stick! Get your sausage on a stick!"
"Did they have to turn this whole place into a fair just for some game?" I questioned, looking around at the various stands that had been set up. It felt more like a festival or celebration was taking place instead of the preparations for a fight against two opposing pirates.
"Seems kind of ridiculous" Zoro hummed, crossing his arms as he looked around. Neither of us felt comfortable wandering around, instead choosing to keep somewhat close to one another as we watched how the other crew mingled with one another. There was something oddly normal about their behavior, the way that they talked to each other while giving food and merchandise to one another as if they weren't on the same pirate crew.
"It's time for the opening ceremony, everybody! Simmer down, simmer down!" a man suddenly proclaimed over the intercom.
"You simmer down!" one of the men sneered.
"Shut up!" another snapped.
"Let's calm down, boys—we're about to start" a young woman with blue hair piped up from atop the stage that had been set up. Instantly, the sound of her voice settled the riled-up men as they fell silent. Curiously, we watched as our captain stood up on stage alongside the Foxy Pirate's captain who appeared to be nothing more than a very stout man with a long pinkish-red nose and strange hairstyle that reminded me of ears.
"I love you, Porche!" one of the men suddenly shouted up at the woman on stage.
"Since our challengers have never played this game before, let's go over the rules, okay?" Porche smiled. "First, whenever you lose one of the matches—whether it's your crew or your Jolly Roger or anything else—the only way you can take it back is with another Davy Back Fight" she explained. "Second, any crewmembers taken by the winner must swear undying loyalty to their new captain on the spot—no exceptions. Third, if your Jolly Roger is taken, you can't ever fly it again—never ever" she shook her head.
"Nami, I got you some cotton candy!" Sanji shouted as he came rushing back over to us, carrying three flossy sweets in his hands.
"I don't know how everyone can be so calm at a time like this!" Nami scowled, irritated by how calm everyone was compared to her.
"It's already settled, so you might as well stop complaining" Zoro huffed as he gave my hand a tight squeeze, making it clear to me that despite how calm he looked on the outside, there was a part of him on the inside that was still bothered by all of this—bothered by the consequences of this game. I said nothing and only responded back with a squeeze of my own, slowly and soothingly rubbing my thumb against the back of his hand in a comforting manner.
"There's nothing more we can do—everything's already been decided and we're just going have to roll with it" I shrugged, not really seeing any way out of this that didn't involve us being labeled as disgraceful cowards in the eyes of others.
"Finally, if you happen to break any of these rules, you'll be labeled as a disgrace to all pirates and banished to Davy Jones Locker" Porche concluded with an innocent smile. "So, do you swear to uphold them?" she asked, looking toward the two captains beside her and making sure they understood the rules of the game.
"I swear" Foxy—I can only assume that's his name since that's what the pirates are called—nodded.
"I swear" Luffy spoke through a mouthful of meat, not really looking like he was paying any attention at all to anything other than the food in his hand, but I had faith that he at least understood the risk of this game...
Hopefully.
With both confirmations given, the crowd around us burst out cheering as if pleased to finally get into the actual games now that the rules have been established.
"Alright, Straw Hat! I'll let you choose your fate!" Foxy proclaimed as he held up three coins. "One coin? Two coins? Three coins? It's all up to you, kid!" he grinned.
"That's our boss for you, always a good sport!" Porche grinned, causing her captain to boastfully laugh as he puffed out his chest in pride.
"What do the coins do?" Luffy curiously inquired.
"Decide the number of games" Porche explained. "The boss is letting you choose how many matches you have—you can quit after one or you can do as many as three if you're feeling lucky."
"Well, the more games we do, the more fun we'll have—right?" Luffy asked. "So let's—"
"Luffy!" Nami and Usopp shouted, cutting the captain off before he could answer as they held up one finger each as if to signal to him that they only wanted one game.
"Got it" Luffy nodded. "Okay, I'll take three" he smiled.
"You idiot! Why did you help?!" Nami snapped at Usopp, quick to put all the blame on him for our captain's decision.
"And why did you count an enemy too?!" she and the sharpshooter both snapped the second they noticed that a rather large monkey behind them that was also holding up one finger, making it clear to them how their captain got three out of two.
"That was easy!" the monkey snickered.
"I mean, at least he knows how to count" I chuckled, watching how their shoulders slumped as they both fell into a depressive state.
"Then it's settled—three coins, three games!" Foxy and his men laughed as he threw the three coins behind him, causing them to land in the water with a small splash.
"Huh? So who's this Davy Jones guy?" Chopper curiously asked as Robin handed him the cotton candy that Sanji had given her. It was a bit embarrassing to admit that I had already finished mine, eating it quite quickly the minute he had handed it to me and I took my first bite—it had just been so sweet and something that I had never had before. I didn't really think to take my time and enjoy it, instead, I did just like Luffy would have and practically shoved it in my mouth.
"A pirate who was cursed by the Devil and forced to spend all of eternity at the bottom of the sea" Robin explained.
"I never heard of people living underwater" Chopper tilted his head.
"Well, that's what the legend says, and all the ships and treasures that sink beneath the waves go to the locker" Robin clarified. "Never to be seen by anyone again" she concluded with a small smile.
"I knew the ocean was scary, but that's crazy!" Chopper shivered before taking a bite out of his candy. "Yummy!" he happily chirped, instantly becoming distracted from his fear by the sweet treat.
"Cute" I chuckled, smiling as the reindeer blushed and hid his face with his candy floss.
"Davy Jones has been taking his picks from all sorts of pirates for as long as anyone can remember" Sanji sighed in thought. "That's why we call it a Davy Back Fight, in honor of the pirate that may someday claim a crew of his own."
"Kind of morbid when you think about it" I hummed.
"The stage battle is set, Straw Hat—are you ready?" Foxy asked as he approached our captain.
"You bet! Let's go!" Luffy nodded.
"You jerk!" Usopp angrily snapped.
"You landed us in a real mess, Luffy!" Nami scowled as she and the sharpshooter squished the rubber man's face between their fist.
"What's the big deal? All we have to do is win" Luffy frowned, voice a bit muffled by his squished cheeks.
"Easier said than done, Luffy" I sweat dropped.
"You're forgetting something!" one of Foxy's men suddenly shouted as he came running toward us with a clipboard. "You have to fill out your team roster, our Party Organizer needs it—you each get to participate twice, and once you pick your lineup, it's set and stone" he explained.
"It's got the events listed" Zoro remarked, looking over the sheet of paper clipped to the clipboard. "A race, ball game, and a team contest" he listed off.
"What's that say?" Sanji questioned, taking the clipboard and looking it over himself. "Well, seems like we can all take place in the race, three for the ball game, and then six of us for the team contest" he read out.
"Cool, you can sign me up for all three" Luffy grinned.
"No, you can't do that—the rules say that two is the limit" Robin reminded him.
"Weren't you listening, Luffy?" I asked. "Got to play by the rules" I playfully chastised, causing him to pout a little.
"Uh...we can't lose this thing, I just know they're going to take Captain Usopp if they do" Usopp shivered, growing depressed alongside Nami the longer he thought about all the things that could go wrong.
"No, they aren't..." the navigator sadly mumbled. "They're going to take me, I'm the cute one..." she whimpered.
"You...uh...you both really think highly of yourself, don't you?" I sweat dropped, realizing that the two were serious and honestly thought that they'd be picked if we were to lose. I guess it was nice to have that level of self-confidence in yourself that you could imagine that everyone wanted you.
"It's time to announce the roster that each team has chosen to represent them in today's events!" that same man from earlier announced once the forms had been filled out and handed back in. "First up, we've got the Straw Hat Pirates! Participating in Round One, the Donut Race, is the entire Straw Hat crew!" he read.
"I ever tell you I got a disease that prevents me from racing?" Usopp nervously laughed.
"You have a disease for everything" I deadpanned as he continued to laugh.
"I don't want to do this stupid race either, so just man up!" Nami irritably snapped, annoyed that the sharpshooter was already trying to worm his way out of participating.
"Participating in Round Two, the Groggy Ring, are Roronoa Zoro, Sanji, and Tony Tony Chopper!" the announcer continued.
"You better not slow me down" Zoro scowled at the blond.
"Right back at you!" Sanji sneered.
"I'm going to try my hardest!" Chopper declared, jumping up and down.
"And that's all anyone is asking of you" I smiled, ignoring the two men glaring one another down as I patted the top of the reindeer's head.
"And participating in Round Three, the Run Roller Round, we got Monkey D. Luffy, Nico Robin, Nami, Usopp, and Skylar Strife—Strife?" the announcer questioned as if taken aback. "Well, I never thought I'd hear someone else sharing such a frightening last name!" he laughed, sounding just the tiniest bit uncertain and confused as if he hadn't expected to see such a name written down. I flinched, not having expected any of these pirates to be savvy enough to recognize his last name so easily amongst a sea of others...
Then again...
Despite it not being that common of a last name, it was a family name that any pirate with common sense and half a brain cell knew to fear. It was a last name that anyone with wit knew not to ignore or dismiss...it was a last name that I couldn't rid myself of no matter how much I wanted to as it always lingered there on the tip of my tongue. It was a last name ingrained into my mind and expected to be spoken with pride that I didn't even feel or have. It was a last name that always seemed to claw its way up my throat and past my lips as if it demanded to be known and heard...as if it demanded not to be ignored and forgotten like I so desperately wanted it to...
Was it really so strange that someone finally recognized it?
No...but, after one look around, I felt my surprise was almost justifiable as I looked at the crowd of pirates around us. None of them looked as if they should have been knowledgeable about such a man...then again, we are on the Grand Line. Marines were crawling all over the place and the whisper of names—of high-ranking officials whose mere names were meant to strike fear in those who dared to oppose justice were always fluttering about in warning. His name was always being thrown about, a name he was proud of and never dared to hide or disguise because he wanted those who came upon him or heard of him to know him and him alone. He wanted to be recognized and remembered for all he's done and accomplished.
"What does he mean by that?" Nami frowned, curiously turning her questioning gaze to me along with everyone else as confusion swirled around on their faces at hearing such a bizarre response to my last name. A last name I only just realized was rarely ever said or brought up until now—no wonder I was able to go this long without someone questioning me or recognizing it. It was nothing but pure luck on my end that the others seemed ignorant of the importance of such a last name...then again, when talking to them in private, none of them ever sounded like they had originally really planned on becoming pirates in their lifetime outside of Luffy.
"N-nothing!" I sputtered, jolting at the sudden and almost unwanted attention I was receiving as I cringed away from their prying gazes. "He's just talking nonsense—he must be mistaking me for someone else! You know how last names can be sometimes" I nervously laughed, wildly waving as my gaze hastily darted elsewhere. It was such a pathetic excuse—sure, the act of two people sharing the same last name yet having no relation to one another wasn't strange or uncommon...but such a situation could not be applied to my own with a family name so rare as Strife. After a second or two of tense silence that probably wasn't all that tense for the others, I watched as they listlessly shrugged while exchanging curious glances once they realized I wasn't going to say anything more before looking away...
All of them except two.
Robin and Zoro continued to stare—one concerned and the other curious with a gleam in her eyes that made my stomach roll as I was suddenly reminded of that quick and odd exchange shortly after she had joined. Suddenly reminded of the curious way she had asked about my last name and nothing more. I recalled the intense way that she had stared as if lost in thought, the gears in her head back then turning before eventually turning away as if nothing had even happened. I had avoided her for a good while after that before eventually settling down and trying to engage with her once more.
"Let's go!" Luffy suddenly cheered, catching the other's attention and finally forcing them all to look away and become distracted by our overly excited captain who was already starting to giddily bounce in place.
"Alright, let the merciless Davy Back Fight begin! A winner will be crowned while the loser will be forcefully drowned!" the announcer proclaimed, quick to fall back into the groove of things despite his earlier confusion. "I am Itomimizu, but you may know me as the Foxy Pirates Party Organizer! But today I will be your commentator" he explained. "The first round of the day is Round One—the Donut Race!"
"How do you guys think we should team up?" Robin asked, ignoring the way Nami and Usopp began to sulk once more at being reminded of the game. I relaxed when I saw how distracted the others had become with the upcoming race, now forgetting all about the commentator's strange remarks as their attention was quickly placed on more important matters at the moment.
A/N: Enjoy
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