The Marine

Round 1: Donut Race.

Standing on a line in groups of three or four, the Marines and Foxy Pirates waited for the gunshot that would signify the start of the match.

Looking side to side and then straight ahead, Akisu judged which workshops would be most desirable for he and the teams participating on his side.

The rules for the [Donut Race] were simple, each team could consist of either three or four contestants and there were no limits on how many teams could participate for either crew.

To the sound of a matchlock pistol, the teams would have to construct their own boats – made purely out of barrels – and then sail their boats one full lap around the island.

No meddling was allowed during the construction of the boats, but out on the water there were no rules. Crews could even help their sides boats from the shoreline by firing guns and setting up traps.

Akisu knew that this was why Yoko had chosen only six teams to participate on their side, whereas Foxy had a massive fifteen teams on his.

Being just 14, Akisu was technically still a [Chore Boy], but given his broad experience from a lifetime as a sea thief with Borodo he was one of the few Chore Boys who were allowed to sail on patrols.

Given that he had always been mechanically inclined, his Marine jobs were Carpenter and Machinist, which was why Yoko had placed him in charge of the first match.

*POP! *

With the firing of a matchlock pistol into the air the contestants ran to the workshop areas.

With over a thousand members of their ‘crew’ watching, Akisu quickly pointed out where the other teams should run and then organized the construction of makeshift boats.

Using only simple barrels the kinds of boats you could make was not many, and prioritizing speed, Akisu had the boat design already in his head.

“Come on! cut three barrels down with way and use the metal bracers like this! Hurry up, I’ll be back in a minute!”

Running from team to team, Akisu instructed the crew on how to design simple barrel-rowboats which would allow their three-person teams to use their legs as they paddled. These designs were simply three half-barrels, nailed together head to toe, with the other materials being used as buoys to prevent them tipping over.

Lightweight and fast to produce, Akisu stumbled when he saw several teams of Foxy Pirates already run to the water with boats that were little more than shoddy rafts.

‘What?!’ he thought in mild despair. Yoko had given him this responsibility and he wouldn’t let her down!

While Akisu was ordering the Rapanui, Carrot, and the Minks to go faster Bill was lurking around the waterline.

Unlike the Chore Boy who was hindered in what he could see, to Bill, it was evident what Foxy’s trick here was.

Crews could help their contestants from the shore, and so, just around the first bend Foxy’s pirates were building boats which would allow the rafts to ‘slot in’.

Since the contestants would never abandon their own ‘boats’, this was legal, but for Bill, how could he ever allow that to happen?

Moving at a speed which even Foxy’s skilled Shipwrights couldn’t detect, Bill grew out his fingernail and began poking the expanded boats full of very tiny holes. Holes so small that they wouldn’t be immediately realized, but ones that would absolutely sink the boats before too long.

With Foxy and Itomimizu bragging about how their crew already were around the first bend, Akisu rushed into the water with his rowboats and sitting in the middle, with Carrot on the front and Rapanui on the back, he hollered: “Alright, let’s go!”

Seeing no one by the time they got to the first bend, Akisu and the Marines continued to hurry but were dumbfounded when a huge explosion went off some distance in front of them, and hearing screams and shouts saw a scene of utter chaos as the Foxy Pirates boats were sinking and one gigantic barrel boat was half blown to smithereens.

This noise drew a lot of attention, and by the time the Foxy Pirates decided to outright cheat, one man drew his pistol and aimed it at Akisu only to be whacked in the head by a dark-green rod.

With Bill as their invisible protector and Yoko standing guard out in the open, the Foxy Pirates thoroughly lost the race.

Standing on a stage after the match, Foxy looked sour, and Bill whispered three names in Yoko’s ear.

“By the rules set forth, I choose!

Itomimizu!

Chuchun!

and…

Porche!”

To these selections there were enormous protests among the Foxy Pirates, Itomimizu was the games Announcer and Porche was widely known as the crews’ Idol!

“Huh? You all have a problem with that?!” Shouted Yoko over the din and then first eying Foxy, she turned to the three and said: “Now swear allegiance to the Captain!” She had to use very precise wording, because if they swore allegiance to her then perhaps Foxy would go back on his word when Bill revealed himself.

And seeing no easy way out, Foxy started hatching another plan when he replied out loudly: “Fine, that’s fine! But be ready because the game isn’t over yet!”

As the Foxy Pirates bewailed the loss of their members, the Marine crew of mostly elderly people and kids ate cotton candy and cheered wildly.

Round 2: Groggy Ring.

Standing in the middle of a large ball field stood Adelle, Rapanui, and Carrot. Since Yoko herself couldn’t participate, this time Adelle took the lead.

Though the next strongest of the current and former Chore Boys was up for debate, it was more or less accepted that Adelle was 2nd only to Yoko, with Carrot and finally Rapanui being one small rung below her.

Akisu, Roule, and the other Chore Boys never factored into that monster quartet.

Besides her strength though, Adelle had something that none of the other Chore Boys besides Yoko had, which was practical experience.

Yoko had experienced hiding from pirate raids growing up and then followed Bill across the world seeing one battle after another.

But Adelle had been a captive of the traitor Marine Gasparde from the time she was a baby and saw pirate raids firsthand, as a result of a hard life, she had to be strong, or she wouldn’t have survived.

It was only after a short peace before she had joined the Marines with her older brother and grandpa.

And finally, when the Commodore had returned her older brother was given his reward, and she had been given the [Weasel Weasel Fruit: Model, Honey Badger] as a result.

This devil fruit was not too well known, but it was Adelle who had quickly discovered how ferocious the power it gave was.

It made her nearly immune to venom and poisons. In her human form she was able to resist most cuts and stabs. She gained sharp claws and was even granted a small amount of superhuman strength.

In combination with the [Meditative Pushup] practiced by all Special Operators in their Department, Adelle’s strong mind quickly turned into sheer strength.

And now, standing in a field where they would do battle, Adelle narrowed her eyes full of confidence.

The rules for the Groggy Ring were simple. There could be no weapons used and one contestant was the ‘ball’. To win, the opposing team only needed to throw the ‘ball’ into the goal.

Killing was allowed, and injury was assured in the [Groggy Ring].

Standing in a triangle, the teenagers looked on as Itomimizu announced the match. His tone had shifted to praising Yoko and the crew while Porche still cried on the sidelines.

“On one side… we have the amazing crew of Yoko Ox who so brilliantly won their first contest!

And their opponents!” as Itomimizu spoke the ground started shaking and the crowd turned their heads: “We have Hamburg, Pickles, and Big Pan! Who together form the virtually undefeated Groggy Monsters! – though that’s only because they cheat.” He announced the last part more silently, which caused curses of ‘traitor’ to come from his former crew.

At the sight of these ‘Groggy Monsters’ screams rang out from the Merveillians, and Bill had to stop Masterson, Toma, and the adult Special Operators from interfering.

For the teenagers’ part, they stood looking at three hybrid giants and clenched their teeth.

Two of the Groggy Monsters – Hamburg and Pickles – were little more than very large humans. The issue was that the one called Big Pan was a [Wotan]!

The [Wotan] were offspring of Giants and Fish-men!

Though smaller on average the possessed twice the strength of an average giant and had the swimming abilities of their parent Fish-man. And for Big Pan, he was part Mudskipper Fish-man which meant that he could excrete a snot-like substance through his skin.

As far as natural abilities went, he had it all. Size, versatility, strength, and defense.

But there was one thing Foxy didn’t account for.

With the pop of a matchlock pistol the match started, and immediately jumping into the air Carrot dashed to Big Pan and shouted: “Electro!”

With her body covered in electricity she kicked the Wotan once, twice, and a third time before Pickles – drawing two massive sabers – went at her to strike.

When Yoko and the rest of the Merveillians shouted ‘Cheat’ they were dumbfounded that the Referee started doing stretches and wasn’t even paying attention to the match!

Before Pickles could hit Carrot, Adelle was there in her hybrid form to block him, and Rapanui had charged Hamburg.

The three teenage Marines fought admirably, but even with their prowess it was evident that they would lose. They could have defeated either Big Pan alone or Hamburg and Pickles, but not the three [Groggy Monsters] together.

Seeing all of this unfold, and seeing Yoko becoming more and more belligerent, Bill decided it was time for him to end the match, and when Carrot delivered a kick to the side of Big Pan, he dropped an elbow on the Wotan’s head.

Only Yoko, Masterson, and the other adult Special Operators understood what happened next.

For the crowd of Merveillians and Foxy Pirates watched in wonder and Big Pans head sank down into his chest and he suddenly flew upwards and landed upside down on the goal – giving the teenagers the win.

For Yoko it was amazing that Bill could have done that without getting noticed, but for Masterson and Toma they couldn’t help but be frightened again.

They knew the Commodore could read thoughts and erase his presence to a degree... but to not be seen by a crowd of over two thousand in broad daylight was something else.

Unbeknownst to Bill, yet again, when he gave Yoko the list of names of who to take, Masterson along with Toma and the Special Operators put him one place higher in their hearts.

His status was quickly turning into that of an Admiral or even an Emperor to those who knew him.

Round 3: Run Roller Around.

Having chosen the [Groggy Monsters] as their next three members, the [Foxy Pirates] were depressed.

Telling the still-crying Porche that everything would be alright, for the first time Foxy started to worry. The main crux of his worry was that he knew that they very well may lose the next three matches!

Due to an unforeseen accident, their trump card for the Run Roller Around race had broken his ankle the night before. Without Chiqicheetah participating, he knew that they were at the mercy of the Rabbit Mink.

And sure enough, this time, Yoko had put Carrot in front of the relay race.

And just to spite Foxy, she had added Chuchun on their team as the first relay racer.

Distraught at the sight of some of his oldest subordinates competing against him, Foxy’s cool demeanor fell for a minute and with a sneer he said: “After all that you said about the ship! You think you’re smart? Fuefue I think not! Just wait for the final match!”

Perhaps Foxy could take losing to a famous pirate, but the idea he was losing to a teenage girl was an insult!

Returning his snarls with a smile, Yoko simply replied: “Oh, don’t worry about it! We’ll get the ship too, split-head!”

After a few more jabs back and forth, the race itself was as anticlimactic as Foxy had feared. Using her pure speed, none of the Foxy Pirates could catch her and Carrot coasted to victory.

Choosing three more key members of the Foxy Pirates – namely Capote, Donovan, and Jube – now the only cheering was coming from the Merveillians, and like Bill had predicted, the Foxy Pirates in the crowd started getting testy.

So far there hadn’t been any altercations, but that was the precise reason he had his Special Operators stationed around the stadium.

But, despite thoroughly losing due to the skills of the Marines and the timely interference of the unnoticed Commodore, the next two matches had gone as planned.

Round 4: Hit and Dead Ball.

Very similar to a game of dodge ball, this match was led by the clumsiest member of Yoko’s crew.

Simply tripping over and over Roule was missed by each and every throw while Rapanui used his throwing skills to destroy the demoralized pirates.

In the end Bill had Yoko choose Chiqicheetah, Gina, and an old doctor called Garcia.

 Round 5: Dash, Touch, Domination.

This game was a mixture of ‘Red Light, Green Light’ and a battle royale, and it was the nearest the teenagers and Minks came to losing.

The only thing that saved the team from being ‘out’ was the strange cricks in the neck experienced by the old referee Rokuroshi. Being old and worn, it was an infuriating for Foxy who swore he’d replace the old pirate next time.

Before the final round, Bill had Yoko choose three more combatants from Foxy’s crew, ensuring that Foxy would do what Bill needed him to do from the start.

Round 6: Captains Fight.

Standing on a large stage in front of the stadium bleachers, Yoko stood in front of all the Foxy Pirates she had won and eyed Foxy with a smirk. It was now late in the afternoon and after a day of games everything was coming to an end.

She knew this, but more importantly, Foxy knew this.

Looking at the sixteen-year-old, Foxy knew he had been tricked, but by pirate honor there was nothing he could say just yet. He had figured a way out several hours before but wanted to try and win in front of his crew so he would retain their complete loyalty and adoration.

‘I’ll either win everything or I’ll expose her for not being a pirate!’ he desperately thought.

But how could this line of reasoning not be known to Bill who was reading Foxy’s every thought? So, whispering into Yoko ear, the girl shouted: “Only one more match, Foxy! And this time when we win your ship, I just hope the rest of your crew knows how to swim or else?! Hohahaha!”

Gritting his teeth, Foxy answered over the still-wailing Porche: “Your crew has done good, no doubt about that!

But are you brave enough play for keeps? How about it, one final match for the whole shebang! Captain versus Captain, Winner Takes All!”

Whispering again into Yoko’s ear, the girl parroted: “Captain versus Captain, eh? Alright since I’m generous then how about this, if you and your entire crew swear to follow the Captain if you lose then we’ll do it!”

Hearing the changed tone in her voice and the strange wording that she used, Foxy’s instincts almost paused him, but hearing Porche crying for him to do it and the rest of agreeing crew, had filled him with such a sense of elation and duty that he said: “It’z looks like we’z have a big deal!”

“Swear it on your honor!” Yoko shouted immediately, to which Foxy and the rest of his crew said: “One match for the whole shebang, on our honor!”

With these words said, Yoko began to laugh and laugh, and when the crowd quieted down to see why, Bill stopped erasing his presence a short distance from the stage.

Making it look natural, since he did not want to give away one of his most powerful abilities, he was walking steadily over to the stage but naturally attracted a lot of attention.

The pirates in the stadium were confused by this new arrival, but Itomimizu stood there with his weird mouth agape. Even if William Ox now stood 9 feet tall and was a beast of a man, Itomimizu recognized him from when he was only 5 years old!

The realization of who was walking up the steps then quickly spread through the Merveillians, and without Bill’s instruction Masterson, Toma, and the Special Operators began to stomp their feet and chant: “Bill! Bill! Bill! Bill! … ”

By the time Bill reached the stage, the entire area was shaking with the stomps of hundreds upon hundreds of people, and stepping in front of the ever-changing face of Foxy the Silver Fox, Bill leaned over and said quietly:

“I told you, the next time we met wasn’t going to be the same.”