248 Champion Shmampion

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THE TIME IS FINALLY UPON US!" The announcer of the colosseum shouted over the stadium's speaker system. "THIS TOURNAMENT IS SPONSORED BY THE DOFLAMINGO FAMILY WHO HAVE GENEROUSLY OFFERED A MOST EXQUISITE PRIZE!"

An image of Doflamingo holding what appeared to be an oversized strawberry with a spiraling edge wrapping around it coming to a point at the bottom. Even the leaves looked like tiny drills.

"DON'T LET THE DRILL DRILL FRUIT'S PARAMECIA STATUS FOOL YOU! LEGEND TELLS US THAT THERE IS NO DEFENSE IN THE WORLD THAT THIS DEVIL FRUIT CANNOT BREACH! ITS LAST WIELDER IS SAID TO HAVE CUT DOWN THE FLEET ADMIRAL OF HIS DAY, WHO HIMSELF WAS IN POSSESSION OF THE TWINKLE TWINKLE FRUIT!" The announcer screamed excitedly, and the audience cheered in awe.

The twinkle twinkle fruit allowed one to transform their body into diamond and was currently wielded by a man on Whitebeard's crew. It was thus understood that a fleet admiral in possession of such a fruit would be monstrously tough, and yet he was still brought low by the drill drill fruit. Of course there were no doubt many other factors involved in the fight than just the participants' devil fruits, but the audience didn't care to put that much thought into it.

Cherry wondered how such a story could be casually told by a pirate group like the Doflamingo family. The world government having one of their fleet admirals get put down by a pirate was embarrassing, even if it happened hundreds of years ago. Robin had told her that such histories were very strictly censored to maintain the world government's indomitable image.

After hyping up the crowd some more and reciting an advertisement for a knife set that could 'cut vegetables as easily as a hot knife through unfaithful men', the announcer motioned towards the lowering drawbridge over the moat full of miniature fighting fish.

"WELCOME OUR VALIANT CONTENDERS IN BLOCK A FOR THE FIRST FIGHT OF THE DAY!" He shouted.

They marched into the arena, some confident, some nervous, some murderous. The large man with a paper bag on his head was practically radiating eager malice and was staring at the back of Zoropp's head unabashedly.

Zoropp ended up handing his third sword, Yubashiri, over to one of the gladiators that used swords as well. The man recognised the value of the Meito immediately and happily agreed to wield it in the match, even knowing that Zoropp would be targeting him to get it back.

"AS YOU CAN SEE WE DON'T HAVE TOO MANY FAMILIAR FACES IN THE FIRST BLOCK, SO WE WON'T TEASE YOU ANY LONGER! BEGIN THE MATCH!" The announcer cried, causing the crowd to erupt in cheers and the arena to erupt into chaos.

"MY GOODNESS! IT'S ONLY BEEN HALF A MINUTE AND THERE ARE ONLY THREE COMPETITORS LEFT STANDING! MR. STORE, ZOROPP, AND NIGHTMARE HAVE ANNIHILATED THE COMPETITION!" The announcer shouted, the crowd cheered but they also sounded a bit confused on how lopsided the whole spectacle was.

Mr. Store had torn through the other fighters like a cannonball through a paper mache ship. Zoropp had reacquired Yubashiri almost instantly and sliced his way through the competition like a hot knife through butter. Nightmare was comparatively gentle, each gladiator she passed would simply slump over asleep like a baby.

Mr. Store whipped off his paper bag and gave the spectators another shock. "WIIIIIHAHAHAHA!!!"

"JESUS "THE CHAMPION" BURGESS?! WHAT IS ONE OF THE DISGRACED BLACKBEARD PIRATES DOING HERE?!" The announcer casually insulted.

"Roronoa Zoro." Burgess said, wearing his trademark toothy smile and paying no mind to the disrespect. He could always rip the announcer's spine out another time.

Zoro stopped arguing with Nightmare who was playing keep away with Shusui instead of giving it back to him as agreed. "My name is Zoropp. Do not call me by the name of that scoundrel who is more handsome and has a higher bounty than Black Leg Sanji."

"I'll kill you, you bastard!" A distant shout rang out from the waiting room.

"It's no use denying it, I'm not a blind fool like all these idiots." Burgess said, gesturing towards the crowd and earning some boos from some people who were either stupid or brave enough to do so. "It's just you and me. I'm going to torture you until your captain comes to save you, then I'll kill you both!"

Zoro gained a sharp glint in his eye. "What about Nightmare? She's here too."

"That cowardly trash already ran away, and even if she didn't her presence would make no difference. Wiiihahaha!" Burgess cackled.

Zoro looked, and sure enough Nightmare had vanished. She at least had the decency to leave Shusui behind for him.

Zoro kicked Shusui up and caught it. He prepared his three swords while Burgess patiently watched him. Using his three sword style would basically be announcing his presence to the whole of Dressrosa, but at this point he was pretty much exposed. He was meant to cause a disturbance here anyways.

Burgess got ready to charge him, when suddenly he lost his balance. He swung an elbow strike behind him and narrowly missed Nightmare who disappeared into the cloud of dust his own attack caused. His leg felt numb, but he could move it. More important was that he blocked the incoming sword attack.

"Purgatory Oni Giri!" Zoro muttered. Cherry would tease him later for saying it out loud, but he felt it was stronger when he said the name.

"Hado Elbow!" Burgess responded in kind.

Zoro didn't hit anything vital, but Burgess' arm guard was destroyed and his elbow sustained some damage as well. Burgess' shockwave attack sent Zoro flying backwards, but he landed on his feet mostly unharmed.

Like a ghost, Nightmare slipped beneath Burgess' guard and ran his hands over his body. Under other circumstances a beautiful woman caressing his chest would be delightful, but Nightmare's hands brought only doom.

"Massage Arts: Hands of Heaven and Hell!" Nightmare called.

Burgess felt his muscles shifting between super relaxed and weak and horrifically painful cramping. Neither of which allowed him to properly attack her as she slipped out of his reach.

Burgess wasn't smiling any more. Nightmare was a pest, a fly that buzzed around his face but always escaped his swatting hands by sheer chance. If he could focus on her, he could end her in an instant, but he currently had a powerful swordsman breathing down his neck.

"WHAT ARE WE SEEING HERE, FOLKS?! JESUS BURGESS APPEARS TO BE HAVING QUITE A LOT OF TROUBLE! WILL THE SO CALLED CHAMPION PREVAIL OVER HIS TWO OPPONENTS?! WILL ZOROPP CUT HIM DOWN?! OR PERHAPS NIGHTMARE WILL BE THE DARK HORSE OF THIS TOURNAMENT?! Oh, I just got that…" The announcer screamed excitedly.

In the window of the waiting room, Lucy chowed down on a box lunch of fried chicken, unfazed by the fight.

Rebecca looked on thoughtfully and wondered if she really stood any chance at all at winning. She hoped that the winner of Block A would be weakened enough to beat in the final round, but not so much that they can't bring down the Doflamingo family's additions.

Mr. Prince was secretly hoping that Burgess got a lucky shot at Zoro's face so he could mock him later as the uglier of the two of them, and outwardly cheering for Nightmare's victory.

Sadly, Mr. Prince didn't get his way as Burgess was whittled away anticlimactically over the course of a few minutes. Nightmare and Zoropp tossed his unconscious form into the moat where the miniature fighting fish roughed him up some more. It really couldn't have gone any other way. Burgess might have put up a decent fight against just one of them, but against two? Never.

"WHAT AN UPSET, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WE'RE DOWN TO TWO NOW, ZOROPP AND NIGHTMARE! WILL THE THREE SWORD WIELDING MANIAC RISE TO THE CHALLENGE OR WILL THE TATTOOED BEAUTY TAME THE BEAST WITH HER WONDROUS TOUCH?!" The announcer declared.

Zoropp was facing Nightmare now, trying to chase away memories from the past. He'd long ago managed to rationalize in his mind that Cherry wasn't a "woman" and so he didn't need to hold back, but now she was Nightmare and looked completely different. Worse, her short hair and tall, lanky stature was painfully reminiscent of Kuina, his childhood friend.

Nightmare could see his hesitation and knew that something was up with him. He hadn't been so hesitant to fight her before, so what was his deal now? Was it because he was trained by Hawkeye for two years? Did it sink in that his goal was to kill her father, deadbeat or not?

Well, she wasn't a very nice person, so she'd just do what she does best. Mess with him until he snapped out of his funk and refuse to take him seriously until that time.