Work Text:
“Welcome one and all to the long anticipated Straw Hat Showdown! It’s been a long time coming and what you will see today is an event like no other, my name is Gatz, announcer from the kingdom of Dressrosa and today in this very stadium, I will be commentating this incredible showdown alongside my co-caster.” The large man adorned in an outfit befitting a gladiator stood tall in the announcement box, in his hand a transponder snail connected to a loudspeaker, his voice able to carry throughout the entire arena to the packed crowd.
“Yes that’s right Gatz, a truly legendary battle will be taking place here today, my name is Itomimizu, member of the Foxy pirates and I will be your eyes in the sky today!” From above the crowd another voice bellowed down from a thin man wearing an eye mask, causing most of the crowd to look towards the source as he encircled the arena upon a large bird.
“It’s been a year since Monkey D Luffy was crowned the Pirate King and the Straw Hats have been relatively quiet since then. However! Today they have come out from their isolation and every single member of the Straw Hats are here in attendance! But the main event tonight is the showdown between the swordsman Roronoa Zoro and the cook Blackleg Sanji!”
The Straw Hats were amongst the loudest of the cheers from their space in the announcement box alongside Gatz, cheering on for both of their crew members with extreme jubilation, going wild with their clapping and hollering, with their cyborg even going so far as to shoot fireworks off from his modified arms.
Itomimizu swooped downwards to a large video transponder snail close to the announcer box, peering right into it. “And to those of you watching at home, we will be broadcasting the entire battle worldwide!”
Across the globe all manner of people had tuned into the fight, watching it from large screens displayed in public squares on hundreds of islands as well as within the palaces of most World Government countries and even at the Marine Headquarters.
In the Kingdom of Germa
The four Vinsmoke children sat in their chairs in the throne room and the king sat atop his throne, elevated and separate from his children, they all faced the projection transponder snail displaying the stadium on screen, watching the lost prince face off against the world’s greatest swordsman.
Judge looked at the screen with sheer disdain, an ugly snarl plastered on his face.“ That insubordinate boy, how dare he embarrass me further.” Judge sneered, slamming his fist down onto the arm of his throne as he grit his teeth, tired of his failure of a son upstaging him in such pitiful ways.
Niji shrugged his shoulders, indifferent but amused at the turn of events. “I don’t know father, it’d be a pretty huge feat to beat the world’s greatest swordsman.”
“We’ll see if he can,” Yonji said, stretching his arms back and pillowing his head with them, unbothered but keeping his eyes on the screen all the same.
“Apparently he’s been keeping up with the world’s greatest swordsman for years, we’d be foolish to underestimate him.” Ichiji cut in against his brother's more dismissive attitude, able to recognize his strength.
Yonji cackled loudly. “That’s true, we did before and almost died!” At the reminder of their almost death the other two brothers joined in the laughter together like it was a pleasant shared memory.
Judge clicked his tongue and turned his head to the side, muttering something unsavoury under his breath, forced to witness the son he cast aside stronger than ever, whilst his own prized children spoke on their own failures as if it didn’t matter.
In her own seat, sipping at a cup of tea, absorbing all the information around her, Reiju smiled to herself. She had nothing to say, but was endlessly amused watching her brothers unknowingly defy Judge. As well as watching her father seethe as Sanji had become more powerful and prominent than the might of Germa could ever hope to be. Her eyes remained fixed to the screen above all though. ‘You can do it Sanji.’ She thought to herself, so proud of how far her brother had come.
In Shimotsuki Village
The small village population was packed tightly within the walls of the dojo. It was the only place in the entire village that had a video transponder snail to view the fight. The fight that had been highly anticipated amongst the villagers since the news broke and everybody wanted to be witness to this event. Not a single person wanted to miss out on one of their very own showing off what could be achieved from their sleepy, little village way out in the East Blue.
“Zoro’s got to win!” A young boy clad in the traditional dojo-gear declared, jumping up in place from where he sat at the very front, three wooden swords fastened at his side, the typical style of the students at the dojo.
“Yeah, he’s got the most swords, there’s no way he can lose!” Another energetic boy shouted himself, then the two boys began fighting one another, pretending to use all of Zoro’s signature attacks on one another in their make-shift duel, before getting shushed by some of the village elders, who had also packed themselves in tightly to see the young boy they remembered doing much then same years ago, on the screen.
At the very back squished in and hardly able to fit in the main training room, Koushiro stood, surprised by how many people had decided to come out and view the fight, having organised this viewing for himself and the children that idolised Zoro, he hadn’t expected everyone to turn up, but it warmed his heart nonetheless.
The master of the Dojo looked on fondly at all the inspired children, never before had his dojo been so busy with new students, filled with the same determination he remembered both from Zoro and his own daughter. He then turned his head to the screen looking at another student of his, one who had far surpassed him, even years ago. ‘It’s good to see you again Zoro-kun, I hope you know how many people are rooting for you.’ He thought with a smile, recalling fond memories from years ago.
At the Marine Headquarters
A group of terrified looking marine captains stood in a line against the wall in the office of the Fleet Admiral, standing at attention. Though all of them tried to project an air of professionalism, their faces betrayed them. As fear-stricken as they were, they tried their best to hide that fact from their boss, their gazes averted.
Akainu was burning through his cigar at an increasingly rapid pace, his anger could literally be seen as it was made manifest in the magma he let drip haphazardly across the floor and on his desk. His fist was clenched painfully tight, as his gaze was fixated on the screen in front of him. “How is it that we had no intel on this fight prior to this broadcast? And now it’s being shown all over the world!”
Wisely they all remained silent in their line, not wishing to upset the Fleet Admiral further, cruel as he was at the best of times.
But then one lone captain, the bravest of the line stepped forward to speak, sweat dripping down his brow all the while. “Well, you see, uh, sir. We haven’t had any information regarding the Straw Hat pirates for over a year now, they kind of popped up out of nowhere.” He tried his best to explain, to appease him.
Akainu slammed his clenched fist down on the desk in a fit of rage, causing all the marines in his office to flinch. “You better hope we find their location soon or there will be consequences.” He sat down at his desk and folded his arms, as he stared at the screen before him studiously once again. “I refuse to let Monkey D Luffy make a fool of me again.”
“Yes, sir!” The captains saluted before rapidly filing their way out of the office to find any information they could on this event and most important of all, keep themselves as far away from admiral Akainu as possible.
Meanwhile Back in the Arena
Gatz leapt up to the edge of the announcer box for all to see. With his mic in hand, drumming up the energy in the arena with his passionate announcing. “Anyone who knows these two know that their rivalry is legendary, sometimes fighting each other before the enemy themselves, never getting along and not even bothering to address one another by name. It’s a wonder how they managed to survive alongside each other in the unusually tight knit group of the Straw Hats when such rivalry burned between them.”
Itomimizu encircled the arena on the back of his bird, and when broadcasting his voice with his own portable speaker, all eyes turned to the sky. “We have been informed that this will be a fight to the death! A test to discover which of these monstrous men is truly the greatest.”
Within the arena stood the two lone combatants, staring one another down from their own side of the battlefield. On his side Zoro was the picture of complete indifference, a bored expression on his face as he lazily draped one arm across the hilts of his legendary swords. On the other side Sanji was leisurely lighting up a smoke, not looking particularly interested. Neither of them appeared to be at all fazed at the prospect of death potentially staring them in the face.
Itomimizu began, “we’ll be starting soon folks so don’t worr-” But, in the stand a scrap of paper was thrust into Gatz’s face unceremoniously, a flutter of petals falling from them shortly after.
“Hold up Itomimizu I have just received a note from none other than Nico Robin of the very same Straw Hat crew,” he said, getting the note ready to read aloud. “It appears there is a grand prize for this fight! What an exciting new development!” He cleared his throat quickly and projected his voice as clearly as he could for this new information. “It says here, the winner shall receive.. the other man’s hand… IN MARRIAGE?!”
“EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH???!!!”
The sound echoed throughout the stadium and even throughout the rest of the Grand Line and across all the four blues. The majority of the world had their faces frozen, mouths slack open, snot falling from their nose and eyes bulging out at the unexpected new information.
Nami took initiative by leaning over and grabbing the mic as even the announcer was currently too stunned to speak. “Before anyone asks, no it doesn’t make sense and yes they are both morons.”
Sanji twirled his way closer to the Straw Hat box, “Nami-san you wound me~!” He then turned around and called out to the rest of the stadium. “Of course if any ladies object I will be by your side in an instant~!” He dropped down to one knee, his arms open wide with hearts in his eyes and a dopey looking smile on his face.
“Tch moron.” Zoro with his arms crossed sneered and rolled his eye. The dismissive display had Sanji instantly dropping his love-sick act, squaring up to Zoro’s face, forehead to forehead as they traded insults back and forth. And he was so distracted by the mossy man that if any women happened to object, then Sanji never heard it.
On the Floating Restaurant Baratie
Raucous laughter and cheers filled the kitchen of the Baratie, the chefs all gathered in one place by their only transponder snail, the restaurant closed for the day due to a very special occasion.
“Hahahaha Patty pay up!” Carne gloated gleefully, clapping his hands above his head joyously at his soon to be windfall of beri.
Patty grumbled pulling his wallet out, he was never going to financially recover from this. As he handed over bill after bill he had to complain. “You saw what he was like in his teens, how was I meant to know he’d fall for that moron who bled out all over the floor of the restaurant all those years ago!”
Carne shook his head sagely, “it was a fool’s bet, you saw how he struck out with all of them.”
“You’d think he would have found one interested lass in all of the Grand Line.” Patty grumbled under his breath.
“How’d you predict so accurately, Head Chef?” A newer, younger chef looked on in awe at Zeff and the amount of beri he was currently counting, most of the betting pool going to him. The young chef had only been hired a couple of years back, shortly after Sanji had left, though he heard more than enough about him from the veteran cooks in the kitchen, but still the announcement was a surprise.
Zeff counted up his vast winnings slowly, note by note and thought about how it all began. He saw the switch flip in Sanji all those years ago, some upstart broccoli head declaring his dream in front of them all and willing to die for it when he didn’t have a chance in hell. He could see Sanji’s whole world-view shift in that moment, when nothing he had ever done convinced the boy. It was a fool’s bet to think otherwise. “I know what he’s like, he’s my boy.” Zeff answered simply. And he made off like a champ for it all.
In the Kingdom of Wano
Hiyori gasped upon hearing the shocking announcement, she truly hadn’t expected such a thing. No wonder she hadn’t been able to capture the heart of Zorojuro back during the time when he and his crew were the saviours of the land of Wano.
She was shook out of her drifting thoughts of such times, because right next to her, Momonosuke had reacted far differently to the news, falling over on his side, cackling to himself. “Ahahaha! What a turn of events. I bet you weren’t expecting that one Hiyori.” He teased her.
Hiyori pouted whilst looking down in distaste at her brother, her brother who was currently barely able to breathe through his ridiculous laughter, very immature in her opinion. So she shouted down at him. “Shut up! You don’t understand love, you’re still a child!”
Momonosuke shot up, completely offended. “Hey I’m the shogun! I’m not a child anymore!” He whined childishly.
She made sure to give him a good double foot kick across the room, making him crash through a series of paper walls across multiple rooms. “You’ll always be a child to me if you keep acting like this!”
Brother thoroughly thrashed and out of the way, she settled back down demurely to look at the screen once more. She felt a pang of longing in her heart, but ultimately she was happy for the samurai she’d met during those harsh times, he deserved nothing less than someone who made him happy. And Hiyori? She knew she’d find her own love in her own time.
On Whole Cake Island
Pudding stared wide-eyed at the screen, blinking several times and even then she was still second-guessing herself, did she really hear that right? Hand in marriage?
Well, as Sanji’s last betrothed she may have been more than a little displeased. Perhaps buried deep down in her heart she’d always kind of hoped she would’ve had a chance to meet Sanji again someday, and in that meeting, maybe something could have blossomed between them… Something real, outside of the confines of an arranged marriage. She certainly hadn’t accounted for him falling for a crewmate of his, certainly not one whom she didn’t even recognize, he hadn’t even come to the tea party!
Pudding rested her face in her hand looking petulantly at the screen, her face in a little pout. Then the camera panned over Sanji, and her expression softened, he was just as she remembered him, the sweet gentleman who had been so kind to her. She couldn’t help wondering what could have been, what life could have been like if things were different. She then shoved her reddening face into her hands and shook her head wildly dispelling all such thoughts.
Well whatever, it’s not like she even cared if he died or killed his beloved, it would be his own stupid fault!
She peered at the screen between her fingers, her aggressive thoughts dissipating when she caught sight once again of her former betrothed, remembering how sweet and gentle he was with her, a smile on her lips at the memory only to scrunch her nose up at the screen when it panned over to the distasteful green-haired man once again. Well if this Zoro fellow ever hurt her Sanji-san, she could be there for him instead.
Meanwhile Back in the arena
The two combatants had gotten ahead of schedule, already squared up against each other, throwing kicks and sword swipes at each other, flipping and dodging each other, all the while flinging insults at one another.
“Pervert-cook!”
“Moss for brains!”
“Swirlybrow!”
“Algae-head!”
Their fight only began to ramp up in intensity as their insults got more and more creative.
“Oi! Both of you morons, stop fighting, it hasn’t even begun yet!” Nami once again stole the mic from Gatz to yell at her stupid crewmates, already done with their antics, taking charge of the situation before it got out of hand.
Robin leaned slightly towards Nami to reach the mic herself. “Perhaps it would be prudent for you both to explain to our confused crowd your reasoning.” She tried to reason with them.
They pulled back from one another, sliding backwards across the dirt and stood back in their previous positions, mirroring each other on the battlefield a good distance apart. Zoro then sheathed his katanas and pulled a small, velvet box from his haramaki. Sanji too reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out a similar looking velvet box.
“Simple, as the world's greatest swordsman, I couldn’t possibly marry someone who can’t live up to my strength.” He stated loudly to the crowd, words punctuated with a feral grin, raising the box in hand to provoke Sanji further.
A tick of annoyance formed on Sanji’s forehead at Zoro’s arrogance, clutching his own box tightly as he fired back. “Well I won’t marry someone stupid enough to rely solely on their title to prove their strength if they can’t even beat a simple cook!”
And then for just a single moment in time, suddenly the whole world shared a collective thought. ‘Ahhh, they’re so obvious.’
Gatz finally collected himself from the shocking revelations, wrenched his mic back from the Straw Hat’s and tried his best to keep this show on the road with as much professionalism as he could muster over such a twist. “Any last words you have to broadcast for the whole world to hear?” Gatz asked the two.
“Yeah I’ve got several, first of all my name is not Vinsmoke, so you better keep that damn name off my bounty poster, got it?” He said, pointing his lit cigarette menacingly towards a filming transponder snail. “Second of all, give me the name of the man who takes pictures of bounty posters, me and him need to have a little talk.” He punctuated that last demand with a throat-slitting motion but then his aggressive demeanour slipped away for a much softer one. “Oh and after this head on down to the All Blue for the best meal you’ve ever had in your life~ Ladies eat free~!”
“I don’t have anything to say because these won’t be my last words, I refuse to die here.” Zoro said his piece simply with a nod.
Sanji rolled his eyes, “tch, don’t try to act all cool stupid Marimo, I’m not gonna die here either, hence why I’m trying to get my poster fixed for the future, I’m making plans.”
Zoro waved dismissively at him. “You’re not gonna need it changed, I’m gonna turn your bounty in after this.”
Sanji looked at him with a pinched expression. “Pirates can’t turn in bounties idiot.”
“They’ll make an exception,” Zoro gritted out.
“Hah! Why would they do that?”
“I would simply...”
The transponder snail cameras drifted their gaze away from yet another argument and with this one tuned out for the time being, it left Gatz ample time to question their captain and the rest of the crew.
“Are you okay as the captain of your crew potentially losing one of your crewmates today?” Gatz asked. Monkey D Luffy, the pirate king, strongest man in the world and leader of the legendary Straw Hat crew was currently far more interested in the inside of his own nostril, than answering about potential losses he might face today.
“Oh nah, it’s gonna be a cool fight though, Zoro and Sanji are so strong!” He exclaimed excitedly which then turned to a whinier tone. “Is it gonna start yet? I’m hungry… Sanji said he’d cook for me after...” The pirate king complained as he melted into a pathetic puddle of rubber on the floor and Gatz could only look down in bewilderment at such an answer, perhaps he favoured the cook if he was expecting a meal later.
Perplexed but not undeterred, Gatz moved on to the next crew member, “You there, Soul King!” He pointed energetically to the lanky skeleton man. “What are your thoughts on today’s fight?” He raised his mic as high as he could reach towards the towering man.
“Ah well, it’s been a long time coming, why ever since I met them I could sense the tension between them.” Brook said, his tone wistful and nostalgic.
Gatz returned the microphone to himself, eager to get anything that would add more hype to the event. “Was it the tension of a strained rivalry?”
“No. No, no, no, definitely sexual.” Brook replied with no regard, so casually to the whole world.
Wrenching the mic away, he held one hand over the receiver as he hissed out. “Hey! This is a family friendly fight to the death!” Gatz coughed awkwardly, gave a few appeasing words to the crowd and felt it best to move on.
He looked over at the snivelling crying form of their pet reindeer, being comforted by Nico Robin in the stands with them and thought to ask him his feelings on the fight, but thought better of it as he seemed quite preoccupied with his sobbing as well as shouting about idiots and their injuries.
Sidling up to someone he hoped he could consider normal, he asked. “What about you God Usopp! Do you have any last words for your crewmates, any thoughts you’d like to share with the world?”
Usopp immediately pulled away from the mic as if it were a cursed object, hands raised, objecting completely. “Oh no, nuh uh, leave me out of this, this is between those two, I don’t even want to be here!”
“A curious answer, do you not approve of this fight?” He pressed, eager to get more.
“Of course not! Look at us, we're all sitting ducks, we are absolutely going to get caught up in the crossfire and be killed ourselves!” Usopp exclaimed, this time grabbing at the mic with two hands screeching into it, forgetting his previous aversion to answering anything. His actions causing some muttering amongst the concerned crowd. “You don’t know what they’re like! They’re monsters! Monsters I tell you!!” He pulled the mic towards him even closer to rave even more about his insane theories.
Robin then chimed in her own thought. “Perhaps they’ll continue to fight on a pile of our corpses for an eternity.” She mused out-loud as if imagining that very possibility herself.
Gatz ripped the mic away from the two instigators and tried to appease the now slightly agitated crowd. “Don’t you worry folks we’ve been assured this stadium won’t break.” Gatz rapidly explained before a riot could commence, slinking away from the two before they had a chance to fan the flames of panic anymore.
He’d then moved so far away from the raving sniper that he stumbled into their shipwright, who used the opportunity to pull the mic towards him, his large, red mechanical arm bodily dragging Gatz with ease as he did. “I built this whole place myself, there’s no way it can break, not even from these two crazy dudes. Don’t sweat it folks, it’s going to be a super match!”
“Well you heard the man, the Straw Hats shipwright says it so it must be so.” Gatz declared to the crowd, wiping his own nervous sweat from his brow.
He scanned over the rest of the remaining crew hoping that he could get a normal response from someone. Praying he’d get lucky before he picked his next interviewing target.
“Son of the sea Jinbei! As you are the newest member of the Straw Hat crew it must have been a big shock to see such a strange dynamic in your new crew, who do you think is going to win today?” Gatz asked, hovering the mic right in front of the Fishman.
“Well, I belie-” Jinbei started, before Nami’s hand immediately covered Jinbei's mouth. His eyes widened in surprise as he was prevented from speaking further, Nami then leaned over to the mic and took over for him.
“We won’t be taking any questions on who is most likely to win, but do remember to place your bets to your heart's content though!” She said with a devious grin, locking eyes rather menacingly with the Fishman who nodded back at Gatz in meek agreement.
Itomimizu finished his final sweep across the stadium, making sure no angle could be missed by their transponder snails, now certain the broadcast truly was live worldwide he announced. “I think that just about does it, it looks like it’s time for the real fight to begin.”
All squabbling and half-hearted fighting efforts between Zoro and Sanji had now ceased. The two of them taking their positions at opposite ends of the arena.
Zoro took his bandana off his arm and placed it on his head, drawing all of his swords slowly and methodically, one between his teeth and two in each hand. On the other side, Sanji stood still on his side of the arena, only taking a moment to light a fresh cigarette, deeply exhaling a smokey breath.
The two of them locked eyes across the arena, only the fight on their minds.
The excitement in the stadium was palpable, everyone in attendance practically vibrating in their seats in sheer anticipation. The whole stadium leant forwards in their seats, ready to watch the fight of the lifetime and then the countdown began.
“3!” Gatz called out down the mic.
“2!” Itomimizu shouted out.
“1!” Both announcers called out together.
“GO!” The whole stadium cheered on.
The moment the countdown ended a calm settled over the combatants, no more petty squabbles or half-hearted efforts. Only a true duel between equals lay before them now.
Not a second had passed before the two combatants leapt forwards wasting no time in beginning their duel, hurtling towards each other with far more serious and murderous intent, a haki-clad leg met with a black blade, the sharp sound of hardened haki weapons meeting echoed out across the colosseum. Black lightning crested from the meeting and fired out haphazardly into the air as well as flaring at the very ground they stood upon, the sheer force between them even creating large cracks in the earth beneath them.
“There’s no denying it folks, these two mean business about this duel, we won’t be seeing any pulled punches here Gatz.”
“Yes that’s right Itomimizu, you can really feel the killing intent from here.”
From the first clash things escalated rapidly, sharpened blades cut through the air with no holding back, barely missing the tailored suit of the man before him, each missed slice a near death sentence for Sanji, only his speed sparing him from the deathly blows. Sanji’s own kicks were just as powerful, those that weren’t blocked by a blade were left cratering the ground where Zoro once stood seconds ago.
Then from out of nowhere Sanji disappeared, his speed having ramped up so fast he became an imperceivable blur to most of those in attendance. With his speed, he weaved side to side, only a blurry black after-image seen in his wake. With every motion he made, Zoro’s eye followed suit, throwing out countless aerial slices, but each one barely missed him by a hair.
“Stay still! I’ll squish you like the insect you are!” Zoro bellowed out in frustration at the tactic, only for Sanji to laugh, taunting the man below him. Zoro knew he shouldn’t, but only Sanji could let such an impatient rage build in him, with any other opponent he would manage to keep his cool, but with Sanji it wasn’t so simple. The singular slashes weren’t cutting it, literally. Something had to change.
Two arms raised high above his head, he took a chance with a harsh downwards slashing motion, putting his whole body into the movement. The gigantic crossed slash encompassed most of the stadium soaring across the arena, directly towards Sanji, but Sanji, Sanji didn’t run.
“Wait, what’s this? Blackleg isn't running away from the strike, he’s running towards it!”
Opportunity detected, Sanji dashed forwards, the strike, though enormous and no doubt deadly, he took the risk, a perfectly timed phase through had him back directly in striking range of Zoro. The shocked expression on his face was priceless, standing with his swords out to the sides, left completely vulnerable. Sanji had to smirk right as he threw his leg harshly downwards directly on Zoro’s left shoulder. An unsettling crunch sounding out across the arena, Zoro letting out a groan of sheer agony with the hit.
“What a strike from Blackleg!”
Sanji took his victory and no more, pulling back with a series of somersaults, landing on his feet and flashing a smug grin back at Zoro when he caught his eye.
“Looks like Blackleg landed a crushing blow right there!”
“You’re right there, his shoulder’s certainly looking dislocated.”
“Or broken! Can Roronoa keep holding on to that sword with his shoulder so damaged?”
“You always did favour your left Mosshead, how’s that arm feeling?” Sanji taunted. Zoro bristled, weakened in a way only an opponent that knew him so well could do, but he wasn’t about to let that deter him. Zoro glared across the arena, biting harsher around his sword in mouth to dissipate the pain.
He gripped at Sandai Kitetsu in his left hand with more gusto, rolling his shoulder a few times to determine what mobility he still had, paying no mind to the words from Sanji nor the commentators.
He didn’t waste another moment, surging forwards to meet Sanji in another clash, a flurry of steel and leather once again. But Zoro was sluggish and Sanji took full advantage, levying harsh kicks all across the swordsman’s body. Though Zoro took every hit in stride, blocking most of the damage with his swords or hardened haki on his body and making valiant attempts to cut back wherever he’d been hit, his own attacks missed Sanji each time, his speed no match for the other man.
Meanwhile in the Crowd
“Looks like Blackleg’s got this in the bag. Much as I predicted.” Hawkins said, from the straw appendage that protruded from his shoulder, he used his long spindly straw fingers to rearrange the cards in his other hand.
“It was obvious from the start.” Drake said from beside him.
“Yes it was.” Law agreed solemnly.
“Because Stealth Black never loses.” They all said simultaneously, all of them badly hiding their excitement of seeing their comic book favourite come to life, wearing not so subtle merchandise to boot.
Zoro refused to let a single injury slow him down, he gripped his swords even tighter, and fired rapid aerial slices from all of Zoro’s blades, all of them aimed directly at Sanji, the sonic booming slices cut through the air, but each one barely missed him by a hair. And through sheer determination, his grip remained steady on the sword despite the extreme pain he felt through his left arm, unwilling to give even an inch of advantage to his opponent.
Zoro staggered from the hit to his ribs, then to his hip and once more on his shoulder. Sanji took every opportunity to drive fiery kicks into Zoro’s body, singed flesh and burned clothing filled his body. Though Zoro was taking a lot of damage, each and every kick Sanji levied at Zoro only became slower each time.
Drawing back Sanji jumped up into the air, his legs a head above Zoro’s form and began to rapidly kick his legs downward. “Poêle à Frire: Spectre!” He cried, a bombardment of fiery projectiles swarmed at Zoro over and over.
A seemingly desperate flurry of strikes came from Zoro, deflecting the fire as best as possible.
“I hate to say it, Itomimizu, but it looks like Roronoa’s down for the count, Blackleg continues to press his advantage easily and it looks like there’s no coming back.”
“You might be right there Gatz, Roronoa has been playing catch-up this entire time and it’s not going to work forever.”
“Seems like he can only deflect the fire, he’s bound to wear himself out soon…”
“Sadly, that appears to be the case...Wait, wait! Hold up a minute! He’s not cutting randomly, Roronoa, he’s...! He’s cutting the fire itself!”
The fireballs descending on Zoro fell apart as his swords cut through them cleanly as if cutting through paper, the cut fire withering away as they dissipated from the clean slices. Locking eyes with Sanji through the onslaught he gave him a look of smug determination, which Sanji could only return with that of slight concern, a concern that was warranted when Zoro began to cut faster and harder, completely dispelling the fiery attack.
With an outstretched arm upwards Zoro descended upon Sanji a downwards slice, crashing him down to the earth in a plume of dirt.
“You asshole…” Sanji choked out from the ground, spitting his cigarette out to the floor as he coughed and sputtered from the intense attack and when he looked up through the cloud of dirt, he could only see the shadowy figure of Zoro looming over him. He barely rolled out of the way in time the ground where he once where he once lay completely caved in with a X-shape indent.
“What a comeback from Roronoa!”
“It wasn’t looking good for him this whole time, now it looks like it’s all his fight! Let’s see how things develop from here.”
Sanji hopped back to a standing position and bounded backwards, safely across the arena from Zoro, but instead of following Sanji to continue his onslaught, Zoro exhaled a deep breath and stood still.
“Asura, Nine Sword Style.” From his pose an illusionary arm grew, then another, then two more, each with a sword in hand and from his head another two grew with their own swords between feral teeth.
“The famous Asura form! What a treat that we get to see this one folks!”
The new form was stronger and more aggressive than anything seen before. Where Sanji had decently kept up pace with Zoro previously there was no way he could against this new form, every slice Sanji blocked was followed immediately by another from the additional limbs he had to dodge, giving him no time to land any attacks of his own. The exertion of haki across his legs had become weaker, the hits he was blocking now beginning to have a lasting impact on him.
Zoro staggered ever forwards, crushing the earth beneath him, his monstrous new form exposing the demon within, gaining an encroaching advantage with every hit as Sanji had to retreat further back with every block just to spare himself from a lethal hit.
Meanwhile in the Crowd
Mihawk watched with hawk-like precision at the ensuing battle. “Finally Roronoa is showing his true power.” He said, eyes never moving from the fight.
Perona giggled to herself. “Oh, would the great Mihawk have been embarrassed if the guy he lost his title to lost so easily?”
Mihawk turned to her to give a rebuttal, but could only sit there mouth agape, he then definitely didn’t pout when he turned away from Perona, returning his focus to the fight once more.
Sanji somersaulted towards Zoro, his hands pressed firmly into the ground for the best leverage as he attempted to land a kick once again at the weak points he’d created beforehand. It was an attack made out of desperation, leaving him vulnerable but could only pay off if he could land it.
But Zoro took advantage.
Both legs were blocked with two crossed swords and then one free hand at the perfect angle, Zoro brought his hand down heavy, blade sharply slicing through the air, landing a devastating slash across Sanji’s side.
“Gahhh!!” Sanji screamed, blood arcing with the sword as he tumbled to the ground in a messy tumble. He heaved great breaths of air as his blood pooled on the ground. Zoro though, he didn’t hesitate, not giving Sanji a second of respite, he followed up his attack with another, six swords raised upwards descended down swiftly, only for Sanji to roll out of the way at the last second, leaving the ground where he once was cratered and sliced to pieces.
Sanji laid out on his stomach struggling to push himself up on his elbows and levelled a glare at Zoro, who in return gave a smug smirk and followed up with another downward slice, only narrowly avoided by Sanji rolling out of the way in the nick of time once again.
This time Sanji rolled himself to safety and sprung himself up quickly to throw his own counterattack, levying a harsh kick against Zoro’s head, only to be blocked by the sword between his teeth, the grin behind it never wavering.
“Blackleg can’t catch a break here it seems! Looks like Roronoa has no holes in his defence.”
“Well with nine swords versus two legs it’s a pure numbers advantage on his side.”
Another kick barrelled in from the left, easily blocked by a single sword and yet another counter came through, three swords cut through the air, Sanji only able to dodge backwards at the last second through the use of predictive haki.
Zoro took a brief moment from his domination to point a single sword at Sanji from across the arena. “Is this the best you’ve got Curly?!” He taunted.
Sanji clenched his fists. “Not on your life!”
Sanji sprinted towards Zoro, fully determined. But Zoro wouldn’t let him approach.
“1080 Pound Phoenix!” Zoro crouched to build momentum, then performed a circular swing with all three of his left arms to launch out a multitude of swirling vortexes of sharpened force. All three came barrelling towards Sanji with incredible speed, completely surrounding him from all sides.
Skidding through the dirt to stop his momentum, Sanji made an attempt to turn back, to dodge to the side, but there was no escape. He screamed as the snaking tornado tore even through his haki, leaving him a bloodied mess, with torn clothes and cuts covering his body.
Meanwhile in the Crowd
“Come on Sanji, you can do it!” Viola shot her arm up in the air in solidarity with Sanji, cheering him on from the side.
“This is a bit strange to me, back in my day you got down on one knee to make a proposal. If they’re fighting to the death they can’t like each other all that much.” King Riku mused out-loud, scratching at his chin in bewilderment as the fight raged on before him.
“Don’t you see father?” Viola grasped at Riku’s face with one hand and with the other she connected her finger and thumb in a circle, she moved her connected fingers over one of his eyes, using her powers of exaggerated sight to help narrow his vision on the two fighting figures, focusing on their faces. “They both haven’t stopped smiling the whole time.”
A desperate and severely injured Sanji, gathered all his strength and propelled himself backwards, dodging and weaving between all the tornadoes and additional aerial slices fired out at him, cornering himself at the edge of the arena. Asura by now had dissipated but it was no longer needed. Sanji knelt to the ground, holding tight at a particularly nasty wound on his side as he panted harshly close to the brink of defeat, with Zoro approaching there was little he could do, his slow crawl towards Sanji was like an inevitable force of death, a predator coming to finish their prey.
“Looks like there’s no way out for Blackleg, he’s got himself cornered.”
Sanji leapt up.
He took to the sky, stepping upwards to the heavens, dodging a myriad of slices from Zoro, still attempting to press his advantage against Sanji’s last ditch efforts.
Once high enough to remain out of range his leg ignited in a plume of fire, first orange to red, burning further in intensity until forming a white-blue of intense heat.
“Ifrit Jambe.”
“Blackleg’s burning bright up here! It’s an inferno!”
The spinning wheel of fire rapidly descended downwards. Itomimizu and his bird squawked together as they had to quickly dive out of the way, narrowly missing the now approaching fireball. “Hey, watch it!” He shouted directly at Sanji, microphone forgone for a moment.
“The ball of fire is coming but Roronoa isn’t moving, he’s holding his ground!”
Zoro planted himself into the ground, cracks in the earth forming around his boots, unwilling to flee no matter what. He raised the two swords in hand and stayed steadfast, unflinching.
The streaking comet of fire only gained in speed on its descent, burning brighter and tumbling faster on its descent before ultimately crashing down where Zoro stood. In mere seconds a great area of the arena became an explosive plume of fire and smoke, the combatants nowhere to be seen behind the burning curtain of blue fire shielding the chaos from everyone’s eyes. On bated breath everyone waited for the smoke to clear.
The flames soon died down as quickly as they came and all that was left were the two lone figures.
Two swords plunged right into the chest of Sanji, having him fall all the way through the blades until his torso rested upon the hilts of the sword with an unsettling stillness. His head had fallen forwards and his limbs dangled uselessly by his side.
A collective gasp sounded out across the stadium at the display, then hushed murmurs were spoken amongst the crowd from the jarring victory cemented in the sudden death of one of the combatants, even the announcers had no words for the abrupt and brutal end to the duel.
Zoro heaved his breath harshly through the still clenched teeth around his sword hilt. His arms unmoving where the swords had completely impaled Sanji, blood bloomed across Sanji’s shirt rapidly and dripped down the length of both blades down to the hilts, across Zoro’s arms then dripping further down, beginning to pool on the ground in bloody red puddles.
The world stood still, Zoro didn’t move an inch, completely stunned and Sanji, he just remained deathly still whilst held aloft, his whole body resting on the hilts of the swords that had impaled him.
Then slowly Sanji lifted his head making eye contact with his opponent. His previously curtained hair obscuring his face from everyone in the stadium was now revealed. Blood stained the teeth of his manic grin and with a crazed stare in his eye he met Zoro’s shocked look in a determined glare. “You think that’s enough to kill me? You second-rate swordsman…?!”
Taking advantage of his opponent's shock he landed a firm kick to Zoro’s chest, kicking him backwards with enough force for him to crash against the stadium wall, cracked and fractured by the sheer power of the impact. The shock of the situation caused the swordsman to let go of the two swords plunged into Sanji’s torso, leaving them directly in his chest cavity.
“Wow, a huge recovery from Blackleg!”
“What a tactic! With his swords out of action Roronoa can no longer use his signature three sword style.”
“Of course this is a double-edged sword, pardon the pun. But Blackleg can’t be comfortable fighting whilst impaled like that. Looks like this fight just got an unofficial timer.”
“I wouldn’t wanna be him in the morning! Let’s see if Blackleg can end this before he bleeds out.”
Zoro gasped a choked breath when his back crashed into the wall, his sword falling from his mouth and tumbling to the ground. The dusty debris that fell all around him made him cough wildly, he rubbed the back of his bleeding head from the direct crash his head took to the wall, pulling the blood soaked bandana off and tossing it to the ground, when he looked down he saw the sword he hadn’t lost laying at the ground beside him. He took the blade in his left hand, and struggled to his feet. Once upright he rolled his shoulder a few times and pressed at his chest with his free hand, there was an unnatural concave to his ribs, definitely broken. He limped forward, left only with Wado he clenched the hilt firmly in his left hand. He would have to rely on one-sword style from here on, but that was more than enough.
Despite the swords still thrust in his torso Sanji still was able to hold himself upright with minimal staggering to his posture.
“Ohohoho, looks like Curlybrow’s finally come out to play.” Zoro grinned, completely thrilled at the turn the fight had taken.
Sanji didn’t miss a beat, completely matching his opponent’s feral energy. “Some swordsman you are, losing most of your swords like this…” He gestured to the blades still stabbed through him far too casually, as if he was talking about the weather.
“Looks like they’re doing enough damage though, hmm?” Zoro pointed his sword at the injuries on Sanji’s torso, tilting his head to the side in mockery.
“This?” Sanji pointed to the swords, “Nothing but a scratch.” He then grasped the swords by the handles and proceeded to pull the swords out, gritted teeth holding back a scream as they slid through his torso. Once they were pulled out, both coated in his own blood he threw them aside behind himself.
“Oi watch it!” Zoro growled out. “I’m gonna need those once I’m done with you.”
“You wish.”
Meanwhile in the Crowd
“Go big bro!” Yosaku cried out.
“You can’t lose like this big bro, you can take our swords again!” Johnny screamed.
Yosaku turned to his friend, tearing up. “But Johnny! We don’t have them anymore!”
The two of them dove into one another’s arms and as they held one another and cried, somewhere under all their indecipherable blubbering they cried out whole hearted support for Zoro.
Zoro didn’t let the injury get to him one bit, his shuffling limp turned to an immediate sprint towards Sanji, not about let him get off easy by bleeding to death, with Zoro claiming victory through cowardly defensive practices, no, he was going to end this fight by his own sword.
In range again, he slashed at Sanji, ready to slice him clean in half but Sanji raised his leg, blocking the attack with his knee, his haki not quite enough to block all the damage as before, but he grit his teeth through the pain, unwilling to give up now.
Though now, with only one sword to deal with Sanji was able to dive downwards, pressing his hands into the ground, with one leg blocking the singular blade, his other was free to crash directly into Zoro’s jaw. Zoro still stood his ground, an agonising groan through gritted teeth and even though the sound of Zoro’s bones breaking under the force of Sanji’s heel could be heard even across the arena, he took the pain in stride.
Zoro hadn’t recoiled from the hit and now Sanji, who was vulnerable in his position, was free game. Zoro slashed down, a deep cut levied across his arm, making him falter in his handstand collapsing to ground below in a heap of splayed limbs.
Jumping out of the way in the nick of time against another slash, Sanji put some distance between the two. Barely keeping himself upright as the two wounds in his torso were bleeding out profusely, arms, legs and torso filled with a multitude of deep slashes too bleeding a blooming red even visible on the navy of his suit.
Zoro remained in place, panting harshly, left arm hanging limply by his side, chest caved in and jaw definitely broken.
“It’s anybody’s game now folks, they both look to be on death’s door here!”
“Despite the upper-hand he created for himself, it seems as if Blackleg can’t press any advantage.”
“Roronoa isn’t faring any better, he hasn’t landed any finishing blows.”
The two of them locked eyes across the arena. Zoro feinted left and Sanji to the right, as if sharing one mind they used the edge of the arena to propel themselves to the centre. Feet planted into the stone structure, cracking beneath their intense strength they pushed themselves towards death, ready to end things once and for all.
The two of them yelled out as they flew across the arena, a bright blue aura surrounded Sanji and an intense green for Zoro encircled them before they met in the middle under a cover of explosive haki, roaring fire and sharp tornados.
The crowd waited on baited breath to see the result, the flames and twisters winding down revealing all.
The two of them lay on the ground, arms and legs splayed, both covered in blood. Scuffs and bruises adorned their bodies, Sanji was filled with a multitude of stab wounds and Zoro was singed in several different areas of his body. Both of them were still where they lay as if dead, until one voice cut through the silence that covered the arena.
“Oi cook… gimme your hand… for the rest of our lives.”
“Sounds like… a reasonable length of time…”
Each of them, with their remaining energy both rummaged in their clothes for their respective ring boxes. Sanji tossed his landing on Zoro’s chest and Zoro aimed his at Sanji’s face. The final attack they could manage against one another and then at once the two of them unceremoniously passed out in the middle of the arena floor.
“It’s a tie!!!” Both Itomimizu and Gatz bellow down their mics. “They’re engaged!!!”
Raucous cheering flooded the stadium at the announcement. People dancing, screaming, even crying over the beautiful engagement. Even in the most distant corners of the Grand Line people were celebrating the announcement of the newest pirate couple.
At the final announcement, Chopper who was only held back by his desire to respect their wishes for a duel finally could act on his doctor’s instinct and rush down to the two of them in the arena. Hopping down from the Straw Hat box, bounding his way down to the two of them, little medical bag in hoof.
“Idiots!” He cried whilst dressing the major stab wounds on Sanji’s body, barely able to see through the flood of tears that fell from his eyes. “I warned you not to do this!” He moved himself over to Zoro, applying burn cream to the major areas his skin looked inflamed.
Zoro cracked his eye open to look at Chopper, offering him a placating smile of reassurance. “You see how cool I was, Chopper?” To which Chopper could only cry harder, bashing his little hooves into Zoro in faux anger.
“Idiot, idiot, idiot!” He screamed in relief and Zoro let himself rest knowing he was in good hands.
Suddenly, out of nowhere cutting through all the celebrations was a series of deafening sirens.
“Monkey D Luffy, this is the marines, surrender or be taken by force!” A voice over a loudspeaker came through, echoing over the waves, amplified by an announcer on the head of the fleet of Marine ships making their way to surround the island.
“It’s the navy!” Gatz bellowed down his mic, before dropping it and making a retreat.
“Everybody clear out!” Itomimizu yelled down his mic in a panic, soaring off into the sky, mic too abandoned in his haste.
The Straw Hats hustled their way down to the arena, assisting Chopper in getting the two carried off carefully by Franky and Jinbei respectively. Usopp even zipped himself across the arena to gather up all the swords lost in the fight, fearing the idea of Zoro insisting they return for them if they were left behind. With half-finished bandages and cream coating their skin unevenly the newly engaged couple were on the brink of passing out, ring boxes clutched in hand and smiles on their faces.
“Nami-san.. Did you see how cool I was?” Sanji asked and Nami could only roll her eyes.
“Yes, yes very good Sanji-kun, good job not dying.” Nami said to placate him, the joy from her praise was enough for him to slip back into his near coma.
The crew now halfway gone from the arena with everyone in tow and on their way to the Sunny, suddenly out of nowhere Luffy stopped abruptly, sandals digging into the ground, skidding across the dirt of the arena. He outstretched his arm to the abandoned mic on the ground, pulling it towards himself and took a deep breath and even amongst the panicking crowd fleeing every which way, his voice carried through loud and clear for one final declaration to end the event.
“Just you guys wait til the wedding!”