Out for Karma: One Piece

Chapter 132: History in the making

 

Silence reigned among the two opposing crew. Some had frozen at the absurdity they just heard, others had their jaw hanging low in disbelief. Even Shanks had his eyes as big as saucers. Meanwhile, Luffy was grinning like a loony proud of himself and by side Rick smiled smugly and evilly. No matter how much he wanted to bury the emperor and his crew for kidnapping his wife he wasn’t so lost in his anger to not respect his captain’s wishes.

“Luffy?!” Nami exclaimed.
“What the hell?!” shouted Ussop.
“What?”
“Considering that the winner of the fight is probably going to be the pirate king, isn’t it fitting that it is to be decided by one of the oldest and most respected pirate traditions?” said Rick to his friends.
“Wasn’t last time enough for you?!”
“It’s alright, Usopp. We won, remember? We’ll win this one too.” was Luffy’s confident answer.
“If it wasn’t for Rick we would…”

Nami elbowed him hard into the side and made him stop talking. Looking at her he couldn’t miss the meaningful gaze she had in her eyes.

‘Oh, so Rick has a plan.’

A second gunshot was heard and everyone turned to look at Shanks; in his hand a smoking pistol.

“I accept the challenge.” the emperor declared with enthusiasm. “I’ve never been in a Davy Back Fight before. Always wanted to.”
“Great!” replied Luffy then turned to Rick. “What now?”
“Now, each crew picks seven members to participate in three challenges. We can’t change members once they are registered for their challenge. At the end of each challenge the winner can take one thing from the loser. Those are the main rules. Each challenge has its own rules though.”
“What are the challenges?” asked Shanks.
“Good question. Luffy?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think that far. I know that the last challenge is a fight.”
‘‘‘‘‘You didn’t think at all!’’’’’
“Usually the third challenge is a fight between captains.” ‘When the captain doesn’t enlist himself for a previous one.’ “In the spirit of fairness I propose that each captain chose a challenge with the third being a fight between the two of them.”
“Fine by me, Shanks?”
“That’s reasonable.” the man agreed.
“As for the referees, again in a spirit of fairness I propose people who don’t belong in any of the opposing crew.”
“I don’t mind but we don’t have anyone impartial with us.”
“We do. On the Sunny, we have Vice-Admiral Garp, Former Admiral and Blackbeard pirate Kuzan and Mihawk.”
“Mihawk is with you?! How the hell did that happen?!”
“He couldn’t find a boat to leave, so he hitched a ride.” Zoro replied.
“Even though Garp is our grandfather, he's kinda fair.”
“He hates me like no tomorrow!” protested the emperor.
“We have Vivi!” interjected Chopper. “She’s a princess, not a member of the crew and she’s fair!”
“You… got a lot of weird people on your ship, Luffy.” remarked Shanks getting a shrug in return. “Fine, I agree with those three for referees. And our challenge will be a sniping one.”
“Okay. Ours will be…” Luffy began then thought about it a bit. With the exception of the doughnut race and the Hit and Dead Ball where there were a thousand rules he didn’t know any. None of those two were appealing.

“Is there a game where you can fight but the goal is not to beat each other?”
“There are plenty but the first that comes to mind is the Groggy Ring. It’s a bit like football with three players per team. One player on each team is wearing a ball on their head and the objective is to put your opponent’s ball in their goal. Weapons are not allowed but punching and kicking or devil fruit powers are.”
“I like it! Let’s go with that.”
“Alright, so a snipping contest with three members each, the Groggy Ring with three members each too and the captains fight making a total of seven. Since a Davy Back fight is also a festive event, I propose to give everyone two hours to… well, cook food, prepare stands and arenas for the challenges. That also gives everyone the time to choose their participants.”

Both captains agreed and separated, going back to their ship. The strawhats drew a lot to know which six among the thirteen of them would compete and the results were baffling.

“Alright!” exclaimed Luffy. “Me, Usopp, Baby-5, Reiju, Rick, Franky and Eri will participate!”
“Me?!” exclaimed the teen.
“What?! Who’s the idiot that put my daughter in this!”
“She’s part of the crew, so I did!”
“She’s thirteen, Luffy!”
“She’s going to be fine! Now, who wants to participate in what?”
“Obviously, if it’s snipping, I’m the man for the job.” said Usopp and nobody could argue with that.
“I’d like to participate in the event too.”
“Usopp and Baby-5 for the sniping contest. Who else?” asked Nami who had taken charge and was taking notes.
“Me!” Franky said which made sense. The cyborg had to have something to help him aim.
“Alright, so Usopp, Baby-5 and Franky for the snipping game which means for the Groggy Ring it’s Reiju, Eri and Rick and finally the captain matches with Luffy.” reported Nami to see if everything was in order.

~~~~~

With the help of Zoro, Eri and Rick, Franky was able to make stands for the public but also the judges. He also made the targets for the snipping contest and since it was Shanks’ he let them place them wherever they wanted. Afterwards he worked with Usopp on making ball helmets while the rest of the crew made the playfield, including the lines and the goals. The captain duel would take place on the small island in the middle of the lake. As small as a land of 50m radius could be.

When the two hours of preparations were over everyone gathered, including the judges. Aokiji was nonplussed about his job but took it to fight the boredom while Vivi loved the idea and was already in. Mihawk declined at first but Rick persuaded him when he told the man that he would judge his old rival and watch him get his ass kicked.

To Rick’s and Nami’s delight, the red-haired crew had brought Robin with them. Their wife had agreed to get out of her cabin she had been put in when Shanks told her her crew was here. Unfortunately, she was still a prisoner so she couldn’t join them but she was as happy as they were for the reunion. She was also amused about how everything ended up in a Davy Back fight.

“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Garp’s muttering echoed through the area thanks to the den den mushi model microphone Rick had given him.
“Come on Grandpa, you’re commenting History in the making!”

The old marine veteran, dressed in shorts, a flower shirt and flip flop stood in front of a stand.

“Alright! First participants for the snipping contest come forward!”

Franky and a man with his hair cut like a star moved did.

“The targets are 800m away. Do your best, you pirate scums!”

Using the lasers on his shoulder, Franky was successful eight times which was really good in everyone’s opinion. Unfortunately his opponent got one more shot in and won the round. The next strawhat contestant was Baby-5, facing a very tall and lean man. The latter was clearly not as good as his friend, missing four shots out of ten. When it was Baby-5’s turn she changed into a missile and flew right in the middle of the targets exploding them all.

“Foul!” shouted Vivi.
““““WHAT?!”””” protested the crew.
“The rules of the challenge are clear. The targets need to be shot down. I’m sorry but Baby-5 broke the rule by blowing them up.” Vivi explained with a wry smile.
“Winner…”
“Wait a moment. I want to challenge my father, even if the round is lost.” interjected Usopp.

 

Most people in the strawhat crew finally realized that the third contestant from Shanks’ crew was their friend’s dad. They understood why Usopp made his request, his father having abandoned his mother and him when he was a baby, he wanted to make a statement. What that statement was they didn’t have a clue but they were ready to cheer on him harder than ever, regardless.

“I’d like that.” replied Yasopp.
“Wait a minute! Yasopp, you can’t be his father! You don’t have the same nose!” Luffy denied.
“I got it from my mother, you idiot!”
“Oh! Nevermind then. Good luck, Usopp!”

 

Yasopp was the first to go and easily hit all the targets. Usopp did the same. When they asked the judges to go on because they wanted a clear winner and not a draw for their duel they got what they wanted after Vivi, Aokiji and Mihawk talked about it with each other.

“Alright, It’s a death match from now on. The first one to miss, lose.” Aokiji began to explain.
“Each round the target will be moved back by 100m.” added Vivi.
“Do note that hitting the target is not enough. It’s a bullseye or nothing.” Mihawk finished

Both snipers agreed and began to shoot one after the other. At 1.3 km Usopp hit the target right in the middle while Yassop missed it by a quarter of an inch. It didn’t change the outcome of the challenge but Usopp was very proud of himself and held his head high.

“Red-haired Shanks’ crew wins!” Garp announced with gritted teeth.
“What do you want?” Vivi asked the emperor.
“I’ll take Wald into my crew, thank you!”

Rick knew that was coming. After all he was the most dangerous member of the crew and without him the odds of their opponents to get a second victory and win the Davy Back fight rose drastically. Sighing, he stood up from his seat and hugged his daughter, then Nami before whispering something in her ear and giving her a wink as he joined Robin at Shanks’ team’s side. Immediately, he was on her, kissing her so hard that she fell backward but answered his act of love with as much fervor. His new crewmates had one of two reactions. The first one was a loud whistling of approvement and impressment, the second was gritted teeth out of jealousy. The latter, Rick murderously glared at.

“A problem with me kissing my wife, mates?”
“Nah, man! They’re just burning with jealousy, don’t mind them. Get reacquainted as much as you need!” said the pirate on the other side of Robin. He was grinning, clearly belonging to the happy for them category.

“Thank you, Oliver. But I don’t think we can get to know each other again like we want. At least not in public.” replied the brunette prompting another row of whistling accompanied with laughing. “I heard you had fun with Blackbeard, his crew and his island.”
“I… may have gone a bit overboard… To be fair, they were after you and were complete scum. Most of them used to be locked up at the 6th level of Impel Down for a reason.” he replied sheepishly.
“The whole world is after me, Rick.”
“Then the whole world will burn if they try to take you from me. Shanks is lucky Luffy didn’t let me…”
“They’re not that bad. They have treated me very well so far, the kidnapping aside. I gather the Davy Back Fight was your idea?”
“Hmhm. An all out fight would have changed the island’s landscape irreparably. I thought you’d be interested in studying the ruins. They’re not from any architecture I’ve seen before. Besides, it’s pirate History in the making. With a capital H. Wouldn’t it be better to read about a Davy Back Fight taking place instead of just a battle?”
“I suppose.”
“Alright, is everyone ready for the Groggy Ring?” Shouted Garp. “Then contestants; enter the field!”

Reiju and Eri were whispering quietly to each other as they walked close to each other. When Garp gave them their ball, it was Eri that put it on.

“That’s Luffy’s doing isn’t it? There is no way you would have let her participate.”
“Yeah.” he mumbled. “She’s going to be fine though. Of that I’m certain.” he let out with a small relaxing sigh. Robin wanted to probe further but decided that it was better to just watch. His grandfather blew a whistle once to start the game and immediately Ben Beckman, Shanks right hand man and the ball of their team, found himself right behind Eri in a burst of speed. His intent was clear, take the strawhat’s ball as fast as he could. Unfortunately for him, his target was a haki genius and she dodged his hit by bending backward, thanks to her observation haki helping her see the attack coming. She didn’t stop there. She teleported right behind him in the air and delivered a vicious kick aimed to the man’s head with armament on it. The man reacted but not fast enough and was sent thumbling a few feet back.

Reiju didn’t stay idle and changed into her full dragon form, shocking everyone. That she had eaten Kaidou’s devil fruit was a secret that only Robin and Rick were in the know of. Taking a big breath she released, not a fire beam like the late emperor did, but a pink cloud made of gas right onto her opponents. Within seconds the three members of team Shanks fell to the ground asleep. With a swing of her tail she made a small gust of wind which dissipated the sleeping gas cloud and Eri acted on the spot. The young redhead teleported right onto Ben Beckman, grabbed him and teleported him to his team’s goal where the ball ended neatly in the goal.

“Winner, strawhat crew! Flawless victory!”

Of course the crew cheered loudly. Reiju changed back to her human farm and raised a hand to Eri for a high five that was answered heartily.

“So that’s what you meant.”
“Yeah. She and grandpa ate one of the devil fruits that were on display on the shelf near my desk. She ate the Wapu Wapu no mi which is a relief because it was the best to keep her safe and Gramps ate the Mori Mori no Mi.”
“They didn’t do it on purpose?”
“No. They thought they were weird fruits from our travels or some of my experiments. In their mind, no one would be so lucky to have so many devil fruits and insane enough to treat them as simple decorations in a fruit bowl.” he replied with a tired sigh making Robin chuckle.
“You Ds are really something else.”
“It seems that way.”

“ROBIN!!!” came Luffy’s voice from the other side of the field.
“It’s time for you to go.” Rick said with a smile to a confused Robin.
“Why me? Why not you?”
“You know why.” he replied cryptically with a small grin and shooed her away.

She gave him a curious look, not worried one bit and left for the crew’s side where she was hugged to death by Nami. Chopper in his natural form grabbed her leg with tears in her eyes and she bent down to take him in her arms. She always had a soft spot for him because of his cuteness and naivety.
From where he was standing, Rick was happy to see Eri hugged her too. Then he turned his head a bit to the side to catch Luffy’s eyes and after a very brief unspoken conversation nodded. While everyone was busy changing locations for the last game, a fight that was a legend in the making, Rick sneaked away but not before leaving a clone behind as he went behind the stands. The clone joined the other while he went to the Red Force. His ship for the foreseeable future. Which was very short, he had all the confidence in Luffy to win. The fight would be hard but he knew his captain and little brother would be the one victorious. The problem was Luffy could only ask one thing. Out of the two most likely options he had, Rick and the last poneglyph, the strawhat captain was more than likely going to chose him, which means that to get the last rio poneglyph, the crew would need to fight for it making the Davy Back fight meaningless in the first place or do another game of it which was risky. That’s why the alternative was simply stealing the poneglyph writings. The plan in his head at the start was to win all games and just take back Robin and get the glyph along the way, unfortunately their defeat in the first round put a wrench in the plan. Of course they could have stolen the glyph from the get go but they wouldn’t have gotten back Robin. Not without a fight that no one except Rick really wanted.

Reaching the Red Force he saw a group of his new crewmates standing watch by playing cards, drinking and smoking.

“Hey! How you doing?” he asked pleasantly, getting on board.
“Oh, it’s you.” said one of them. He was smoking on the side of the rail and had put his hand on the handle of his sword when he had heard Rick calling out to him and his friends. “We’re good. Would be better if we were there to watch the fight but someone’s got to guard the ship.”
“Hey! Hey! Are you mad?! He’s the strawhats Vice-captain!” interjected one of the card players.
“Not anymore. I’m your new crewmate!” exclaimed Rick with as much joviality as he could.
“““What?!”””
“It’s true. Ben, gave me a call on the den den to tell me we won him for our crew.” the smoker confirmed.
“I meant to come here immediately to know the ship, my duties and where I’ll be sleeping but I haven't seen my wife in so long…”
“Yeah, yeah we get it. Mighty wife you snatched for yourself, you lucky bastard.” the smoker said in jest.
“More like she snatched me but I agree on the lucky part.”

The smoker nodded and signaled to follow him. He gave Rick a tour of the ship from top to bottom. The ex-marine had to admit the Red Force was quite the ship. Spacious and elegant, one would think it was designed for a noble and got some pirate additions done to it, like slash and burn marks here and there. Alcohol and food stains that couldn’t be washed away. When the tour got to the loo, Ricke excused himself and used them quickly. He nearly missed the toilet when he felt the tremor of Luffy's and Shanks’ fight, shaking the ship violently.

“Shit, the captain is really going all out.” the smoker said.
“The one winning would probably become the pirate king so of course he is.” Rick replied, finishing his business and exiting the loo.
“Not much support for your former captain, I see.”
“Nothing like that. If Luffy loses, then he loses. He would have done his very best and would be satisfied with that. Though in his empty head he probably doesn't see himself lose. Either way he’d be happy so support or not it’s the same to me.”

The smoker gave him a look then after a couple of seconds, dragged him to the kitchen.

“Since you’re the newbie you’re on peeling duty. Take a whole crate of potatoes, you’re doing it on the deck where you can keep an eye on you.”
“Not much trust. I understand.”

He did as ordered and found himself sitting on a stool, peeling leisurely potatoes after potatoes all the while getting a feel of the fight going on. The tremors only got more numerous and violent. After a particular fierce and brutal clash everything stopped.

“Seems like the fight ended.” the smoker said, looking in the direction of the duel. A few minutes of silence afterward was broken by the ringing of a den den mushi. Picking it up the man didn’t talk but listened and then closed the call.

“So? What did the captain choose?” one of the card players asked.
“Nothing.”
“What?!”
“He chose nothing, because he lost!”
“““Impossible!”””

The pirates began to argue and Rick used the opportunity for his real self to come out from the inside of the ship and dispel the clone peeling potatoes he had made when he was in the loo without any of them noticing. Clearing his throat he got their attention.

“What happened then?”
“You got taken back. Get off the ship.” replied the smoker with murder in his eyes.
“What about the potatoes?”
“GET OFF!”

Not needing any further prompt, Rick jumped off the Red Force and flew towards his friends and family. When he arrived at the location, he saw a tired and bruised Luffy, sitting and laughing by the side of a smiling but wet Shanks.

“Welcome back!” Chopper said with enthusiasm, having seen Rick first.
“Good to be back. How was it?”
“It was Suuuper!” shouted Franky, making a pose.
“Luffy went gear 5 and still didn’t get the upper hand. After the last clash, he just grabbed Shanks' side of the island before he could recover properly from it and pulled the ground up making him fall into the water which is instant loss.” Usopp explained.
“Count on Luffy to do something out of the blue and win. Yohohoho.”
“The question is what now?” Sanji inquired, shooting down the mood.

The crew had gotten Robin back and was complete but they were still missing the fourth rio poneglyph as far as they knew.

“I guess we’re still in a stalemate.” Shanks stated with a chuckle.
“Not really.”

Contradicting the Emperor, Rick pulled from the inside of his coat, which was in truth his inventory, all the poneglyph writings he found on the Red Force. Shanks’ eyes widen comically at the sight.

“How did you…”
“A common mistake pirates make during a Davy Back fight. Letting their new member onto their ship. I created a clone when I was in the loo who followed your subordinate. Meanwhile I was free to search the ship for them.”
“... That’s… You…” Shanks tried to insult him but couldn’t find the words.
“I think the word you’re searching for is ‘pirate’.”

The red-haired man looked at him dumbfounded for a moment before laughing his ass off.

“You really find a good crew, Luffy.”
“The best!” the captain replied with a proud grin and happy grin.
“I guess, you’ll be the one to go to Laugh Tale, then.”
“Captain! We can still beat…” tried to protest one of Shanks' subordinates.
“No. We fought for the title of Pirate King and we lost.”
“But…”
“True, it wasn’t stated but it was an understanding between pirates and men. We were outclassed.”
“You can all come with us if you want.” said Luffy out of the blue.
“““““““““WHAT?!”””””””””””””
“What? I won so I’m the one to get to be the Pirate King. I don’t see why they shouldn’t be allowed to come see it. Plus I’d like for my friends to be there.”
“Luffy, they may be your friends  but they’re also your adversaries. Shanks is an emperor, he can’t just follow you. People would see it as him becoming your subordinate.” Rick explained.
“Fine by me.” replied the aforementioned man.
“““““““““WHAT?!””””””””””
“““““““““CAPTAIN!?”””””””””
“You’re a good captain Luffy and a good leader. You… remind me of captain Roger so much… That’s why I gave you his hat in the first place. I don’t mind being part of the strawhat fleet.”
“Wait a minute! The straw hat used to be the Pirate King’s?” exclaimed Usopp in disbelief.
“Yeah. Gave it to me when I turned sixteen as a birthday gift.”
“I wonder if it’s fate or the will of the D.” said Rick absentmindedly.
“I found out during my life that it’s a bit of the same thing.” assured the now former emperor.

To the side Beckman received a call and from the way they could hear the other person on the other side of the line they were quite furious. When he cut the call he pointed his rifle at Rick.

“He didn’t just steal the writings, he stole everything. Gold, jewelry, maps, poses, food and medicine. We have nothing left!”

Everyone turned to Rick who had a very wry and embarrassed smile on his face

“Well… This is very awkward.”