20 Honorable Duel #20

"Nope. I'm not a pirate," I replied with a shrug, shaking my head. "Look, I'm not in the mood to play games, so do yourself a favor and leave," I added as I lightly stomped the boat, causing it to shake.

Foxy's eyes widened in shock as he held on to Capote beside him for dear life, almost falling into the water. "You, brat! You think you can take advantage of us while we're tired, do you?!" He said as he let go of the fish-man and accusingly pointed his finger at me.

"Well, I've got news for you! We couldn't leave even if we wanted to! We almost ran out of supplies!" The pirate captain added, proudly striking a victorious pose as he put a hand on his waist, still pointing at me.

"Captain... I don't think you should be proud of that..." Porche said, and at her words, Foxy slowly turned to face her with a confused expression. "It was your fault since you didn't let us resupply before that rear admiral started chasing us..." She added, whispering to her captain's ears.

Almost instantly, Foxy staggered and fell on the rowboat's floor. "Yeah, it's all my fault, isn't it....? I'm a terrible captain..." He said, slowly drawing circles with his fingers.

'Maybe I should just kill these people and get on with my day...' I mused, my eyes twitching as I watched Foxy's goofy antics, only to shake my head and dismiss that line of thought.

The Foxy pirates were just harmless comic relief. They weren't what I'd call bad people. And even if I had no scruples about killing, I wasn't confident I could take them all on.

Despite his unconvincing appearance, Foxy was one of the most creative devil fruit users in the One Piece world. Though he wasn't powerful, he used his fruit to its full potential, even giving Luffy a hard time during their duel.

And that's just the captain. There are still the three giant monstrosities on their ship and the fish-man in front of me to worry about.

"In any case! You can't make us leave without killing us, brat!" Foxy said as he sprung to his feet after a few compliments from his crewmates. "We need the supplies, or we'll starve to death!" He added, firmly shaking his head.

"And just so you know, you can't kill us. We'll kick your ass if you try!" The pirate captain concluded after a short pause once he noticed my thoughtful expression as I contemplated my options.

"And suppose I play your stupid game and win... will you do as I say?" I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose in frustration and resigning to the fate of dealing with these idiots.

"Well, yes. Unless you want us to leave without resupplying..." Foxy replied with a grave nod. "We really don't wanna starve to death.." He added, to which his crewmates nodded.

"Fine. We play one round. If I win, you stick to the shore, resupply, then leave and never come back," I said after a momentary pause as I realized I had no choice but to oblige. "And you don't speak to anyone about the island, regardless of what you see in it, capiche?" I asked.

"That sounds fair..." Foxy said, chuckling as he emphasized the last words of his sentence. "And if you lose...?" He asked, giving me a strange, sly smile, and I could only shrug.

"It's more of a reward, but you'll join my crew if you lose..." The pirate captain said after a short pause as he put on a show of contemplating over the matter. "What do you say, brat? Do we have a deal?" He asked, extending his right hand toward me.

"Sure..." I said, sighing as I shook Foxy's hand, causing him to grin as he reached into his belt and retrieved a flintlock pistol, offering it to me. It took me a moment, but I quickly got the hint and took it from him.

"On three..." The pirate captain said as he retrieved another flintlock and raised it high. "Three... two... one..." He added, pulling the trigger and firing into the air as soon as he finished speaking, and I did the same.

Foxy then paused monetarily before fishing a coin from his pocket and throwing it into the sea.

"As the challenger, I have the right to choose the game we will play," Foxy said, watching the coin sink into the water before he turned to me. "Don't worry, though. I'll be sure to choose one that will be fair for both of us..." He added, flashing me another weird smile, and I could only roll my eyes, fully knowing the word fair wasn't even in his dictionary.

"Davy Back fights are usually played with three members on each team, but since you're alone..." The pirate captain said, seemingly deep in thought as he rubbed his chin.

"How about a one-on-one fight game called Combat...?" He asked, his tone growing more excited. "The rules are simple. We spin a canon and shoot it into the air. A fifty-meter radius of wherever, or whatever the cannonball lands on, becomes the fighting ring..." The pirate captain explained, spreading his arms.

"If you step out of the ring, surrender, or die, then you lose..." Foxy said with a broad grin as he relaxed his arms. "I'd say that's pretty fair, wouldn't you...?" He asked, and I merely nodded at his words.

"Then the Davy Back fight has officially begun!"

...

Shanbaga slowly blinked as he watched Cedric return to the shore, accompanied by a group of strange people from the ship, feeling both curious and confused at their actions.

His confusion and curiosity grew even more when he saw the strangers from the big ship set up a big cylindrical black object on the beach and shoot a metallic sphere out of it that fell into the forest.

"This looks interesting... I better go back and tell everyone..." The boy said, grinning like the excited child he was as he turned around and dashed toward the village.

...

'Damn.... this turned into a bigger spectacle than I thought it would be...' I mused, my eyes twitching as I watched the Torini island villagers head into the stands around the fighting ring, sitting alongside the pirates.

The Foxy Pirates apparently came prepared, as they only needed an hour to build a wall around the fighting ring and create the stands some distance away, which came with a gigantic screen that would be streaming the fight.

And if that wasn't impressive enough, they also modified the fighting ring, creating a ton of traps and leaving all sorts of weapons all over the place, all of which Foxy would undoubtedly use to his advantage.

I expected the Foxy Pirates and their captain to cheat, but their shamlessness didn't fail to surprise me. Heck, I would have had to fight Foxy on his ship if I didn't so vehemently refuse when he asked to spin and shoot the canon himself.

Still, I had my own tricks up my sleeve, and I was familiar with the pirate captain's antics, so I didn't mind, not that there was anything I could do about it, even if I did.

As long as I keep my eyes and ears open and I stay wary of the Foxy's devil fruit power, I should be able to win.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Suddenly came an overly enthusiastic and loud voice from the giant screen, cutting my line of thought. I turned to look and saw the image of a scrawny man with a weirdly shaped head standing next to an oversized sparrow as he spoke into a transponder snail.

"First, allow me to welcome you to the Davy Back fight, sponsored by the great captain Foxy!" The man said, his tone too energetic and loud for my taste. However, the crowd, villagers and pirates, didn't seem to mind it, evidenced by their cheers.

"My name is Itomimizu. I will reside over the Davy Back one and only round and be your announcer today!" The man, who I shall refer to as the announcer from henceforth since his name was a mouthful and a half, said with a wide grin splitting his face.

"But I'm sure you didn't come here for me!" The announcer said as he climbed over the sparrow's back, patting its head. "Without further ado, I will now introduce the two contestants!" He added, spreading his arms apart as the oversized bird flew into the air.

...

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