Everyday life with the Straw Hats
Chapter 7: The Limimal Tournament
Everybody was on the ship that they were taking to go to the tournament, is was a navy ship but it was disguised to look like a plain old merchant ship. Since they were going to an illegal underground tournament, they didn't want to raise suspicion by having a Navy flag on their ship.
A few hours later...
Chopper was sitting at his seat groaning in boredom. "Just curious Ms. Smith, how much longer until we reach the island?!" Chopper asked, he was trying to be polite about the question, but Smith could tell he was not enjoying the long boring trip.
Smith snickered at Chopper's bored expression. "At this rate, we should be at the tournament grounds in a few more hours, we will need to be quick about docking the ship. Because the tournament starts later on today after we arrive. So there is no time to waste." Smith said, saying it loud enough so everyone else could hear.
Luffy was looking out the window enjoying the view and breeze against his face. Suddenly he felt a gentle touch against his shoulder. He turned around to see Miia with a saddened look on her face.
"Darling, are you sure you have to fight in this tournament?" she asked softly.
Luffy looked confused by this, he took a seat and she sat down next to him. "Sure I do Miia, but why are you upset about that?" Luffy asked.
"Well, because I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm worried about how dangerous it will be." Miia's eyes started to tear up, Luffy started to realize that this was really troubling her. "I don't want to lose you darling! And I'm afraid of what those mean fighters might do to you, please don't fight in the tournament, I want you to be safe with me!" Miia was sobbing now, she laid her face on Luffy's shoulder.
Usually when one of his friends was crying it was because someone hurt them, which resulted in Luffy getting pissed and beating the crap out of whoever did it. However, this was different. There was no one to punch, no one to blame, except himself. Luffy never was in a situation where his own actions brought sadness to his friends. He knew he was not good with words, but he felt he needed to try and comfort Miia. "Don't worry Miia, I'll be fine in the tournament. You have nothing to worry about. Trust me when I say I'm a lot stronger than most people realize, and I've fought my way out of many bad situations with nothing but my punches and kicks." He said with a soft smile, trying to comfort her.
Nami was sitting relatively close by and heard their conversation, she chimed in to try to help explain to Miia the list of Luffy's feats. "Don't worry Miia, trust all of us when we say that your 'darling' is not someone to mess around with. when he gets threatened or someone he cares about is in danger, he becomes a force of nature that will take down anyone who harms him or his friends." Nami said.
Miia looked up at Nami, a little bit confused, "Really? How so….?"
Luffy said to her "Remember that time I beat up those punks who were insulting you on our way home from getting groceries, that is an example of how I get when someone messes with me or my friends."
Miia thought back to when that happened, how Luffy defended her honor from those street jerks and beat them to the ground with ease. She started to understand what they meant by when they were saying when Luffy gets mad. Oddly enough, Miia started to blush. She began to fantasize about how Luffy would fight in the tournament, he would be strong, brave, heroic, fighting against all odds, just like how he did for her on the walk back home. He would be like some sort of knight in armor fighting for his friends, just like a true hero would.
"Uh….Miia, are you all right?" Luffy asked.
Miia snapped back to reality, she was gripping him tightly with her tail and she was still blushing. "Now I understand! Your like those heroic knights in my childhood stories I would read, who would fight through all dangers that came their way to save the princess, and save the day!" Miia said gleefully, her tears completely faded away, all the remained was a shimmer in her eyes of happiness. "of course you can fight in the tournament, I need to see what my hunky hero can do first-hand by watching in the audience. Then maybe after the tournament, when we come back home. We can get frisky all night together in your bedroom, what do you say, darling?!" Miia was clearly getting very excited about this whole situation. And Luffy didn't really know how to respond. Luffy didn't know what the term 'frisky' meant but he assumed it was a type of food, he figured that she wanted to have an all-you-can-eat buffet in his room when they got back. "Okay, sounds fun." Luffy responded with a grin.
Nami just facepalmed at Luffy's stupidity. "He's gonna be getting a full-course meal alright, but not in the way he thinks." She thought to herself.
Only a few more hours until they reach the tournament, who knows what strong contenders they will have to fight against in this all-out battle of the strongest?
–
The straw hats arrived at the island where the tournament was being held. they stepped onto the docks and began approaching the main entrance, looking at the surrounding area.
"Wow, look at all of these people here" chopper said in awe, "I've never seen so many different types of liminals before!"
"Not all of them are liminals, chopper, most of the are but some of them are minks as well." Smith informed.
"I've heard of minks before." Mero spoke up "They are similar to liminals but they are all mammals, correct?"
"Yes, that is true. and they are also known for their incredible strength. don't let their looks fool you." said Smith.
they reached the front gates of the facility. it looked like an old worn out fortress of sorts that looked like it went through hell and back. its appearance definitely seemed like it would attract a lot of the kind of shady and crooked people, which made sense considering the nature of this illegal liminal tournament.
"Look at how cool this place is, its like a super bunker that has withstood battle after battle!" Luffy exclaimed in excitement "Hey Franky, could you build something like this?"
"What kind of question is that?! I built the Sunny which I'm sure could take way more damage than this puny clubhouse could!" Franky said angrily. "My craftsmanship far exceeds this pile of junk."
Smith interrupted their conversation so she could discuss some important matters. "Okay, listen up everybody. the Tournament will be official starting very soon, but I need to go over the plan one more time. okay?"
everyone looked towards Smith, they could tell she was being serious which was rare for her, they gave her their undivided attention.
"Okay, first is team A, Fighting team. this will consist of Luffy, Zoro, Sanji and Cerea. the four of you will be fighting in the tournament, the goal is for any one of you to win, it doesn't matter who. the winner gets to meet Khann Menshield. He is the host of this tournament and he is the leader of the MAD organization. he is the one we are after so when one of you gets to meet him you need to place this tiny location tracker on his sleeve when you go to shake his hand." Smith explained as she gave each member of Team A a tiny tracking device the size of an ant. "That way he can be tracked back to his home base and the agency I work for can go and apprehend him and seize everything from his headquarters."
"Team B, Rescue Team. that will consist of Usopp, Rachnera, Brook and Robin. Team C will be 'Security Team' and will consist of Franky, myself and my other comrades. once the tournament starts, that's when we will have our chance to infiltrate the secret areas of the facility and find where any prisoners or slaves are being kept, we need to be quick because once the tournament is over, our opportunity is gone and our chance of success goes to zero" Smith stated. "Team C, my team, will be involved with trying to sabotage their security, making it easier for the Rescue Team to free the prisoners."
"Other comrades? who are you talking about?" Usopp asked with a confused look on his face.
"You'll meet them soon, they are on their way here as we speak." Smith answered.
"Team D, Intel Team. this will comprise of everyone else who is not in team A, B or C. your job may seem simple but it is just as important, you will be in the spectators area watching the tournament. since the fighting team will be too busy fighting to communicate with anyone of us, you need to be the eyes and ears and tell us if you see anything that could be vital like guards going on patrol or if you hear other spectators talking about something that could be important, you need to tell Team B and C everything that goes on."
Smith lowered her sunglasses to look at everyone very firmly. "One more thing, this tournament is social event for many top-tier members in the underground, and many of them have connections to other high-profile individuals who are apart of the black market. Does everyone understand their role?"
everyone nodded in agreement.
"Okay" Smith began, bracing herself since there was no turning back now. "Lets go inside and finish this mission nice and easy."
Inside the Facilitiy: Khann Menshild's office
"Sir, you have a visitor who needs to speak with you, I think its very important." someone said to Khann over his transponder snail.
Khann smiled "I know who it is, let him in, I've been expecting this visitor."
a large muscular individual walked into Khann's office, he had long hair and muscles so bulky he could crush a boulder on his arms just by flexing.
"Aw, hello there, it is good to see you. I assume you came by to discuss the arrangements between myself and your Boss"
"I'm here on his behalf because my boss is a very busy person and I'm here to make sure the agreement between the two of you is not forgotten." the visitor said.
"I would never forget an agreement like this, especially with someone that has a reputation as big as your boss." Khann smiled slyly "It was very thoughtful of him to donate such important artifact for me to use as the grand prize for the winner of the tournament."
the visitor glared at him "It was not a 'donation' it was a part of our agreement. besides the representative from my captain's crew will surely win the prize back so there is not much of a concern about losing the artifact." the visitor said matter-of-fact, making sure there was no misconception about why Khann received the artifact to use for the grand prize. "But remember your part of the deal" the visitor continued. "Regardless of who wins or loses the tournament, all the prisoners and slaves you have stored away at this tournament facility and at your headquarters will be given to my boss as 'new recruits'. you want the protection that will be guaranteed from my captain along with the entire fleet that he has, right? then make sure to keep your end of the deal and there won't be any trouble."the visitor finished.
"I know, I know, you don't have to remind me, I would never betray your captain. he has too much influence and power to get on his bad side." Khann starts to smile characteristically, "Besides, I am very honored to have a client that is a Pirate Emperor such as your captain."
"I'm glad you still understand the importance to this deal and to not overstep where you are in the pecking order." the visitor stated with an intimidating glare. "I'll be leaving soon, but first I'm going to go socialize with the other visitors here. keeping connections strong and relationship positive is an important thing, especially in the black market. wouldn't you say?" the visitor said with an intimidating stare at Khann.
Khann didn't let it faze him one bit and greeted the visitor goodbye. "Please, enjoy your time while your here. and give my regards to your captain. I understand he is a busy man but you did a fine job coming here to discuss the subject with me." khann for the first time gave a subtle but menacing glare back at the visitor "Jack the Drought."
the group entered the building, and there were visitors as far as the eye could see. many of them seemed shady and suspicious. however, there were an equal amount of them that seemed quite strong and ruthless.
"Oh my, I didn't expect this place to be so crowded with people" Mero said as she observed her surroundings. "but I know my prince will protect me" Mero said sweetly towards Sanji.
"You can count on that my fair lady, I will always protect you!" Sanji declared as he usually does when love struck.
The place did have small vendor shops located around the entrance hall. Zoro decided that he would like to look around a bit before the tournament officially started.
"I'm going to go look around for a bit, see what some of these vendors sell, maybe they'll have something interesting." Zoro said as he started to walk off.
"Just don't get lost moss head! We will need to regroup before the tournament starts!" Sanji shouted.
"I will accompany him, after all he is my master" Cerea said with her cheeks blushing as she followed along with Zoro.
"I'm going to go make a call real quick, its important. I will stay here by the entrance if any of you need me" Smith said as everyone started to look around on their own.
As Zoro and Cerea started looking at a few blades one of the merchants were selling. Another individual walked up beside them to admire the vendors valuables.
"These are nice blades, but it saddens me that you don't sell scythes of any kind." said the stranger.
"Listen here, I ain't no blacksmith, what you see is what you get. Either buy something or get the hell out of here!" said the weapon merchant grumpily. Zoro and Cerea looked up to see a slim man wearing a dark cloak with a scythe on his back. He had white hair, black eyes but his the iris of his eyes were bright yellow.
"That is some weapon you got there." Zoro said as looked at the giant scythe.
"Yes, this is my personal weapon of choice. It is the signature weapon of my people." the stranger replied.
"Your people" Cerea said curiously, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but are you a Dullahan?"
the stranger smiled that Cerea recognized his race "yes I am, I glad you were able to notice."
"Are you competing in the tournament? Or are you just spectating?" Zoro asked.
"I am competing, I am on a mission to find someone important to me, and I'm hoping that winning this tournament will give me a chance to talk to the host of this tournament, because I'm afraid he might be involved with the disappearance of this person who is close to me." the stranger said.
"Who is this close person you are trying to find? If you don't mind me asking" Cerea questioned.
"Her name is Lala, she is a dullahan like me, as well as my sister." the stranger replied.
"I see, well good luck to you, we will also be competing in the tournament so unfortunately our weapons will have to cross if either of us is to win. But I admire you goal." Zoro said to the stranger. "by the way, what is your name?" Zoro asked.
"My name is Wraith." said the stranger "And good luck to the both of you in the tournament." Wraith said as he started to began to walk away. "Let the best fighter win!"
meanwhile with Luffy:
"Even though this place looks kinda filthy, I hope that they have some good food." Luffy said as he started to look at around, trying to see if any of the vendors were selling food. Miia was following along with Luffy obviously.
"This place kind of gives me the creeps, but I know I don't need to worry as long as I'm with my darling" Miia said as she started to wrap her tail around Luffy bringing him in for a hug. "I can't wait to see how strong and courageous you will be in the tournament darling!" Miia said, fan girling all over Luffy.
"hey! If your going to be all kissy-kissy with your girlfriend, this is not the place!" shouted a voice from someone who was walking up to Luffy and Miia. "this is a place for fighters, not for mushy affection." shouted the voice as the person who said it came into view of Luffy and Miia. He was werewolf liminal who was wearing leather pants, a black trench coat and spiked boots. "you two are an eyesore, get out of here before I gut the two of you." he growled.
"we're not hurting anybody, why don't you back off and leave us alone before I need to kick your ass!" Luffy said sternly at the werewolf.
Miia liked this serious side to Luffy, it made him look tough, and that he was willing to beat up bullies and jerks to protect her. She started blushing uncontrollably.
"Kick my ass?! Oh that's priceless. I'm assuming you have no idea who I am? Let me inform you on who you are mouthing off to. I am Lycan, captain of the Claw Pirates, and my crew is a subsidiary crew to Kaido, king of the beasts, one of the four Pirate Emperors. You talk bad to me, and you'll have to answer to him!" Lycan said arrogantly.
Miia instantly snapped out of her day dream of her and Luffy. That name that Lycan said instantly caught her attention, and it sent a shiver down her spine, also making her skin crawl at just the sound of that name. "Did you just say….Kaido?" Miia asked with a petrified look on her face.
Luffy usually saw Miia in her bright and cheerful mood. But this expression that he saw on her face, one of pure dread, like she just saw a ghost in front of her or something. This was beyond ordinary fear...this was something much worse.
"You heard that right, I work for Lord Kaido, captain of the Beast Pirates. And….wait" Lycan paused. He noticed the D-shaped hair clip on Miia's head. "Wait a minute...that hair clip. And your a-"suddenly it all came together for Lycan, a light bulb came on in his head, and he understood exactly what was going on. "Oh isn't this just perfect, you thought that things would be 'safe' now for everyone. didn't you? You thought that things would return back to they way they used to be and everyone would go back to enjoying their lives. isn't that right….lamia girl.?" Lycan said that last line with low, predatory tone. Glaring right at her with his intense eyes.
"I-I have no idea what your talking about…" Miia replied trying to hide behind Luffy and not make eye contact with Lycan.
"You can't bluff your way out of this one, I know EXACTLY who you are, and that hair clip is all the proof I need." Lycan growled. His eyes never breaking sight of her for a moment.
"Y-You're wrong, if you know who I am, then whats my name?!" Miia shouted back, this time looking at Lycan directly.
"Names don't matter, the only thing that matters is that Lord Kaido will be pleased to know I found you." Lycan smiled maliciously "...Quite pleased indeed."
Miia began to cry, trying to hold back her tears, and her entire body was trembling from the fear.
"And yet you and everyone else from your village still hold hope in that "Will of D." nonsense, I know that's why everyone in your village wear a hair clip in the shape of a D, but it only made it easier for you to be found." Lycan said while he began to laugh.
Miia looked up at Luffy with tears running down her face. "Please darling….can we leave this place?" Miia begged while still trying to hold back the tears. "Please, take me away from here, anywhere but here!" Miia asked as she covered her face with her hands and sobbing uncontrollably.
Luffy didn't respond at first, but he took a deep breath and walked up to Lycan stared at him eye to eye.
"I don't know whats going on with this situation, or why you know so much about Miia or her village, or what that has to do with Kaido or the Will of D or any of that….But." Luffy eyes became fierce as he was now getting pissed off at Lycan. "I will never let you treat one of my friends this way! I will kick your ass for how you were making Miia feel!" Luffy shouted with rage.
"Good luck kicking my ass, unless your implying that you are also competing in the tournament. That won't help however, because I've been the champion of this tournament for 3 years running now, and today will be my 4th year." Lycan shouted back.
"You're damn right I'm competing, and I will kick your ass and I'm going to beat you, You got that?!" Luffy retorted back with his anger still rising.
Lycan smirked at Luffy's confidence, he found it rather amusing. "If you want any chance at beating me, you better be strong enough to make to the final round if you wanna face me in a true fight." Lycan replied with a smug look on his face.
"I better believe that I'm making to the final round, because I will not let you get away with this and I will win!" Luffy declared.
Lycan grinned maliciously at Luffy, "Very well then, see you in the final round...Straw Hat."