One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda
Kingdom Hearts characters belong to Square Enix and Disney
OCs belong to me.
-Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Four-
"Ah! It's so fast!" Luffy screamed as he went flying down the track, Chiqicheetah right behind him. "I won't let you win!" he angrily huffed once he finally noticed the man who now looked exactly like a cheetah—running on all fours and barely even using the skates on his feet at all by this point.
"Incredible! Moments ago, Straw Hat Luffy couldn't even stand on his skates—much less skate in them!" Itomimizu gaped at the captain's improvement. "And now he's neck to neck with Chiqicheetah who has powered up to double speed! Full task!" he proclaimed.
"Oh crap! I taught him how to stand and skate, but not how to turn!" Zoro suddenly realized when he saw that the captain was coming up to a turn.
"How do you forget to teach something like that, dummy?" I called over to him.
"Straw Hat Luffy has once again left the course, he is now disqualified from round three!" Itomimizu announced the minute the captain smashed right through the wall barrier and off the course.
"I knew it! He's hopeless!" Usopp despairingly wailed as he skated right past the hole that was created.
"The Speed King, Chiqicheetah, continues the race with a four-lap lead!" Itomimizu announced as the cheetah raced past the rest of us once again, now back to normal as if he saw no reason to go all out with such a massive lead.
"Long-Nose! Take my hand—hurry!" Robin urged, growing multiple arms from the palm of her hand and all the way over to the sharpshooter. Harshly did she fling him forward with all her might the minute he took her hand.
"Whoa! Nico Robin uses a long whip to keep her team in the race!" Itomimizu exclaimed. "Will it be enough to make up for lost time?" he pondered as the sharpshooter was finally able to shoot in front of Chiqicheetah for but a few seconds before the man turned back into an actual cheetah and surpassed him once again. "There it is, Chiqicheetah and his triple-speed rocket dash!" the announcer boasted.
"Hey, aren't you paying attention?! He left the course, dammit!" Sanji snapped the minute the cheetah jumped out of the course before using his tail to grab hold of the railing and pull himself back in.
"The air is safe! The air is safe!" the referee claimed, dismissing Sanji's complaint.
"Coach Sanji's angry complaint is overruled and shot down!" Itomimizu announced.
"I try not to struggle, girl—got it?" Jube questioned, sneaking up behind Robin and restraining her with his arms. "The more you wiggle around, the more tangled you'll become!" he mockingly laughed before raising an eyebrow when she suddenly sprouted multiple arms on his back and violently yanked his head backward with the intention of snapping his neck. "Fool! I'm an invertebrate, this is nothing to me!" he snorted with a grin.
"Nice work, Jube!" Foxy praised as he used his Slow Slow Beam on the older woman.
"It was nothing!" Jube laughed.
"Oh no! That freak took out Robin!" Sanji scowled.
"Hey, coach lame brain" Zoro frowned. "If we don't do something about that Chiqicheetah guy and quick, we're going to lose this race" he pointed out.
"You don't need to remind me! Wait—Chiqicheetah? Cheetah…that might just work..." Sanji muttered to himself before turning around to face the crowd of people watching in the stands. "Hey, you! The old guy with the horse—are you here?!" he shouted.
"You mean me?" the old man blinked, perking up from where he was seated in the stands.
"Yeah! Listen, that long kiwi you gave Luffy, where did you get that thing from?" Sanji asked.
"What are you talking about?" Zoro frowned.
"Shut up!" Sanji snapped as he angrily waved the swordsman off, wanting him to be quiet. "Come on, old man—hurry!" he shouted, impatiently bouncing his leg as he motioned for the old man to tell him exactly where he had gotten the fruit.
"There—they grow on the branches of those trees" the old man finally answered, pointing behind him and toward the outer area of the ring.
"What is he planning?" I muttered, slowing down as my brows furrowed in thought. Now wondering how the kiwi Luffy was eating earlier was going to be of any use to us.
"Come on, Skylar—we got to try and keep up" Nami urged, grabbing my hand and dragging me behind her as she got back to skating. I don't know what she expected us to do, we couldn't exactly make Usopp speed up and I doubt either one of us would be able to stop a literal cheetah in his tracks considering how he was nothing more than a blur whenever he'd race past us both.
"Alright—Shrubhead, bring back a branch of that tree!" Sanji ordered, pointing toward one of the many long trees that could be seen just over the walls of the ring.
"Hey! Is that any way to ask for a favor?!" Zoro snapped, not appreciating the insulting nickname.
"Look, it might be our only chance to stop this guy—now get going!" Sanji impatiently snapped right back.
"With a tree branch?" Zoro questioned.
"Yeah, you heard me! Now hurry!" Sanji growled, frustrated by how long it was taking the swordsman to do as he was asked.
"Hey! What's he doing?" someone from the crowd curiously asked, stirring up the rest and causing them to start murmuring to one another out of curiosity about what exactly the blond had planned. Just as confused as the rest of us on how exactly a piece of fruit could help potentially turn things around.
"Here, you can ride Shelly" the old man offered, handing his horse off to the swordsman.
"Thanks, old man" Zoro nodded, climbing onto the horse's back and leaving the ring entirely as he went off to do as the blond asked of him.
"Four minutes into the race and Chiqicheetah has an incredible thirteen lap lead!" Itomimizu grinned.
"It's only been four minutes..." I muttered in disbelief, amazed by how much time had already passed since the start of the race.
"Now passing the four and half-minute mark and Chiqicheetah's lead increased to fifteen laps! Things certainly aren't looking good for the Straw Hat Dangers!" Intomimizu relayed as the race continued with nothing really changing outside of Chiqicheetah completing more laps.
"Dammit! Where is he?" Sanji scowled, impatiently bouncing his leg once again as he irritably waited for the swordsman's return.
"Four minutes and fifty seconds! Ten more seconds and the Foxy Devils will just be one more point away from victory!" Itomimizu boasted. "Only five more seconds remain—wait! What's happening? What is that?" he curiously asked as a very long tree suddenly came crashing down onto the ring.
"What's going on down there? What happened to Chiqicheetah?" he rapidly asked, confusion taking hold as he desperately tried to see what was happening. Everything came to a screeching halt as the whistle was blown, everyone now holding their breath in anticipation as they patiently waited to see what was going to happen now that a tree had fallen in the middle of the course. "Chiqicheetah has left the course before the round ended and is disqualified! What a stunning upset and miraculous victory—round three goes to the Straw Hat Dangers!" the announcer shouted the minute the dust settled and we saw the cheetah now playing around inside the fallen tree.
"Chiqicheetah, no!" Porche gasped.
"What?" Foxy gaped, clearly dumbfounded by this sudden turn in events.
"Hooray...?" Usopp weakly cheered, clearly confused and stunned by this sudden victory as the crowd began to complain.
"Why? What happened?" someone finally asked, desperate to know why his teammate would randomly abandon his chances at winning to just go and play in some tree.
"What exactly did happen?" I raised an eyebrow, watching as the cheetah played around in the leaves and branches like a common house cat as Nami and I came to a stop right beside Usopp.
"Kiwi fruits have special properties, in some cases, these properties have been known to memorize cats—meaning, the smell of the plant itself is just like catnip. Cheetahs are cats too" Sanji grinned. "I figured it was worth a shot" he shrugged.
"Oh!" I perked up as I slammed my fist down on the palm of my hand. "That actually was a good idea, I didn't even realize kiwis shared the same properties as catnip" I grinned, causing the blond to blush as he happily chuckled at the praise.
"I get it, so that was why he was sniffing all over Luffy before the race" Nami realized, recalling how the cheetah had been all over the captain earlier before the race had even begun.
"Probably so" Sanji shrugged.
"Impressive knowledge, Mr. Cook" Robin praised.
"Oh, it was nothing, really" he bashfully grinned, clearly loving all the praise and attention he was getting for his sudden plan.
"The Straw Hat Dangers managed to score a point of their own, but the Foxy Devils still have the advantage" Itomimizu pointed out. "There's no time to bask in the afterglow of victory though, round four will be starting soon!" he announced as the tree was removed from the course. "The Point Getters will be Historian Nico Robin against the Fishman Jube—we're in for a great race!" he grinned.
"Listen, how to turn, you—"
"Don't worry, I got it" Luffy interrupted, dismissively waving the swordsman off and making it clear he didn't need any more lessons.
"You do?" I questioned.
"What do you mean you got this?" Zoro frowned. "You didn't have it a second ago!" he irritably snapped.
"Look, I did what you told me to do—I watched how everyone else was skating" Luffy grinned. "I'm ready" he said with complete and utter confidence.
"We know that he's going to use that stupid beam again" Nami huffed, dragging my attention away from the two and curiously over to her.
"Well yeah, that's a given—it's the only thing he's good at" I said, rolling my eyes.
"Yeah, that Doo Doo Beam is going to be a problem" Usopp nodded.
"Doo Doo Beam?" Foxy depressively mumbled, dropping to his knees after overhearing such an insult.
"Boss!" Porche worriedly cried, quickly rushing to the man's side to comfort him.
"Usopp, Skylar, I got an idea!" Nami grinned, suddenly pulling the sharpshooter and me closer toward her so that she could privately relay to us this plan of hers.
"What is it?" Usopp curiously asked, nodding along as we listened to her whisper—making extra sure we were the only ones able to hear this grand plan of hers and no one else. "You're so naughty" he snickered once she was finished.
"My, what a devious young lady you are" I grinned, causing her to proudly grin right back.
"Good idea, don't you think?" she asked.
"Oh! Do I detect the brewing of an evil plan from the heartless and cruel Nami? Her devious face is showing" Itomimizu snickered.
"Whose face is devious?!" Nami angrily snapped.
"Yours" Usopp and I deadpanned.
A/N: Enjoy
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