[113] The Colosseum (1)
If you want to read the next 20 chapters right away, visit my .
Link: .com/Master4thWall
—
Chapter 113: The Colosseum (1)
—
“Alright, you're the 779th to enter the tournament. You are in Block-D, and you’ll be competing against 194 people in the arena.”
The beauty on the entrance said as she finished noting his on the list. Taking a peek, Hashirama confirmed his alias, [Ra], was correctly listed at the end of all the other names.
Ra was the name he went by in his first life, though more like a code name used by his targets and so on, as the only person who truly knew him – his master – referred to him as just “boy” or “brat”. Though it was the old man himself who chose the name.
The name was interesting since his current nickname – Shira – ended with [Ra] too, and coincidentally Alabasta’s King from back in the Void Century was also called Ra, which was further based on the Egyptian God back in his world. Not that any of that was important, as Hashirama gave the lady a nod and walked past her into the Colosseum.
As he walked in, the gates behind him closed shut, and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw some heavy locks getting put into place. He knew why, of course. Even though he couldn’t recall all the details from One Piece anime, he knew this bit of info – that was the fate of everyone who entered this colosseum.
You either die, or you get dragged to the “Medic Room” where you are turned into a toy with Sugar’s ability. Truly hateful stuff, he admitted.
Hashirama, under the mask of a dragon and the name of a God, walked the long hallway into the room that awaited him, barred with huge doors.
Two guards stood in front of the room and they waited for him to step in. Just as he did, finding himself in a crowd, all eyes suddenly locking onto him, the doors were closed behind him for good.
All eyes locked on Hashirama, finding a smooth mask with the imposing face of a dragon carved into it, as two turquoise-green eyes stared back at them.
Some lost interest in him right away and looked away, thanks to the casual shirt with an open chain halfway to his chest that he was wearing, while some spent a few more seconds observing the long sword that was behind him.
Hashirama had put his sword in a wooden scabbard, its red stones were too eye-catching. So the bland sword lost interest too, until everyone turned away to focus on their previous doings. It had only been a few seconds.
“What fierce eyes.”
A voice said, and Hashirama didn’t bother to act surprised as he had already sensed her. Her comment did reach his ears though, as he closed his eyes and let out a breath; it seemed that being under a mask alarmed his senses, sending them back to their cold and hyper-sensitive mode, as he had done most of his heinous deeds under a mask in his first life.
Calming down, as the world seemed to regain a color he hadn’t noticed leaving, Hashirama smiled as and turned to the side. He found a muscular woman wearing a mask too, though hers was that of an oni.
“Hey cutie, long time no see.”
Hashirama would have had a hard time recognizing her if he hadn’t met her yesterday. He gently raised a fist, and she returned it timely, nudging him to walk away with her.
“I ain’t no cutie, you bastard. What you did yesterday was annoying, y’know?”
“What are friends for if not to help chase choochie, Beidou my buddy?”
“You sound disgusting, and that’s heavy coming from me.”
She wasn’t implying she was disgusting herself, but that she had seen a lot in these seas, but Hashirama teased her about it anyway. The two of them walked off through the crowd, laughing lightly to themselves, as they caught up with what had happened in the last month.
* * *
Beidou could use Haki from the Archipelago, and that was rare in this part of the seas. Having Haki was one of the unwritten “requirements” to enter the New World, so in the last month Beidou and her Crux Pirates had visited the Sabaody Archipelago and slipped into the New World via the Fishman Island.
Beidou heard about the tournament that’d happen in Dressrosa and decided to sail over to take a piece of the reward. Though, admittedly, she didn’t think she would win – there were too many other strong contestants here. She had rather joined to get a chance to fight strong opponents, to get an idea of where she stood in the food chain of this new sea.
“Back then, I wasn’t expecting to see them,” said Beidou, carefully nudging her chin towards a particular group within this crowd. “Thankfully you covered your sword, otherwise there’d have been a bloodbath already.”
“That guy?”
“Hey, dumbass! Put your finger down, I am trying to stay low-key!”
“Oh, my bad.”
Hashirama put his pointing finger down and looked at the group. He immediately knew who she was talking about. That large of a man, 17 feet tall, was hard to go unrecognized even in this cartoony-realistic world.
It was Chinjao the Drill. Well, former drill, based on the flattered and dent head he had.
“Your grandfather, right?”
“Yes. I wasn’t expecting to see him here. More so, since he is retired. I wonder why he came here.”
“Damn.” Hashirama gave her a look, patting her on the back, much to her annoyance. “You’re still planning on participating, right?”
“Obviously,” Beidou pushed his hand away and said, crossing her arms. “I ain’t no pussy. Just cus gramps is here along with my brothers doesn’t mean I will run with my tail between my legs. I will fight them if needed.”
Hashirama found her sudden shift in demeanor, her stubbornness growing, pretty amusing. He wanted to tease her a bit, asking - “Why the mask then?” but then he would have to answer why he was wearing a mask, and that’d be counterproductive. Instead, he stayed respectful and asked a related question.
“Oh, what block are you at by the way?”
“Block C. What about you?”
“I am at D, you lucked out.”
Beidou gave him a dry look, seeing him imply that he would win whatever Block he was at. The system in which this tournament worked was simple, as the loud voice of the Host explained right now. Of the four Blocks, there could be only one winner each, meaning four winners in total who would be entering the finals. The four of them would then fight four of Doflamingo’s men, who were called “defenders”. After all, Doflamingo couldn’t just give up three fruits for free, could he now?
Regardless, Hashirama was implying that he would win on his block and that Beidou should thank her for not having ended up in the same block as him. Sadly for Beidou, as frustrating as it was, he was probably right. An arrogant man he was, but he had all the right to be.
The scene flashed before her eyes from when he used [Tectonic Cleaver] to destroy half of the island in a matter of seconds. He was powerful.
“What about your fam? What block are they?”
“No idea.”
Beidou sighed in her head and answered his question, looking back at the group that was her family. Then Hashirama did something annoying, waving his hand as he yelled.
“Yo, big gramps, what block are you at?”
Everyone in the waiting room turned to him. All eyes wide, shocked that he was calling a legendary Pirate like Don Chinjao so casually. Yet, the old man himself gave out a laugh, rubbing his head as he looked at Hashirama.
“Such high spirits you young men have. I am Block-C, as fate would have it. What about you, youngling?”
“Oh, I am at D. A pity, I wanted to brawl against a legend too.”
The old man gave a juvenile laugh at his answer, adding, “I am sure if you’re strong enough to pass, we’d get to brawl at the finals.”
Hashirama doubted that. One of the reasons being how his grandson pulled him and said, “Hey, wasn’t the plan for me to pass?” with the reply being, “Oh, oops, that’s right. How sad.”
Everyone turned back to what they were doing, which varied from person to person, as some were punching the wall, some doing push-ups, and some jumped around to warm up. Hashirama turned back to look at Beidou, who looked a little more nervous than before, realizing she was in the same block as her grandfather, essentially noting her defeat from the get-go.
Beidou just sighed, shaking her head and accepting her fate. Hashirama was just about to pat her on the back again when a terribly loud laugh broke within the room.
“Hey, you old baboon!” yelled a feminine voice. “You sound so confident, talking about winning and all that. Let’s see how much of that remains when you actually stand against me in Block-C.”
Chinjao’s kind smile vanished and he scowled, turning his head to look at the fool who had yelled. Frankly, he didn’t recognize the girl herself, but he did recognize the flag on her cape.
The Beast Pirates.
With pink and blue hair, the girl wore a white mask, as she was surrounded by a group of human-beast hybrids.
From the crowd, Hashirama, and surely Don Chinjao too, heard the name of the girl being spoken a few times.
Ulti, of the Flying Six. The group represented the six strongest of the Beast Pirates right after the three commanders. She was worth 400 million.
The old man, Chinjao, chuckled as he ran his hand through his beard. She seemed to amuse him at most.
“With a bounty not reaching mine even though I retired decades ago, you have quite the loudmouth. Haah, this era is indeed filled with the reckless.”
The girl yelled something back, but Hashirama didn’t bother to pay attention. He honestly didn’t think she would win against Don Chinjao, and from the looks of it, Beidou was going to fight her in the arena, as she was pissed at her for disrespecting her grandpa. It was cute seeing her frowning at Ulti for her words toward Chinjao, given the context of her situation.
Just when Hashirama was about to pat her on the back, to calm her down for now, he was interrupted once more.
“Hey, pssst, Hashirama-!”
This feminine voice called him gently, causing him to turn around and find a red-headed cutie smiling at him. Though more than cute, she was hot, in her nearly-naked bikini suit with cape.
“Marigold? You’re attending this? What block?”
“Hehe, good morning. I’m at Block-A, it’s a pity you’re at Block-D.”
Boa Marigold said with a smile, implying she had heard his talk with Chinjao. That was probably when she had recognized him from his voice, too.
“Pity, hah? I am sure we will meet at the finals, given your strength. Unless we have some other hidden Emperor subordinate in your block.”
“I doubt that, oh and hi Hashirama’s friend.”
“Uh, hello.”
Marigold and Beidou had exchanged an awkward greeting, and Hashirama expanded that to properly introduce themselves. A bit later, Marigold told him what was truly going on.
Boa Hancock, Tsunade Senju, Charlotte Smoothie, and All-Star King, had sent four of their subordinates into this thing. Doflamingo well and fully expected the four of them to enter the finals, as they were separated into four different blocks.
“That redhead over there is Tsunade Senju’s representative, though I guess you already know that. She is in Block-B.”
“I actually don’t know he- oh wait, that must be Marinnae. I heard about her, but never met or talked to… Well, we did talk over the phone a few times, but it was just some short greetings since Tsunade was forcing us to interact. Anyway, who is in Block-D?”
Marigold pointed at a bald man with huge round shoulder pads, as he stood nearly as tall as Chinjao, at a respectful 16 feet. Charlotte Daifuku.
“Oh, the genie guy.”
“You know him?”
“Err, just rumors.”
He knew him from his Anime knowledge, but he couldn’t say that here. So that guy was in his block? How boring. At least Ulti would have been fun, since she was a girl, but she was in another block.
“Oh, I think that person is also in Block-D. I am just saying since he seems popular.”
Hashirama looked at the guy Marigold pointed her chin at, finding a highly androgynous person with blonde hair and blue eyes, sitting beside a white horse. Hashirama was honestly impressed with how beautiful this man looked, but his senses told him that it was a man – so he held back from sliding over and hitting on him.
The guy, who even Hashirama recognized as Cavendish the Pirate Prince, as the news was filled with his picture every day, noticed them looking. He gave a kiss towards the air, making Hashirama turn around and ignore him.
So a middle-aged man and a pretty boy were the only interesting ones on his block? Goddammit, that's boring.
["And, now! The fight of Block A will soon begin, so every participant should come to the arena!"]
"Oh, oops. That's my cue to leave."
Suddenly, when the mic announced in a loud voice, Marigold sighed. Then, she smiled and leaned over, placing a kiss on his mask.
"I'll get to k-kiss you under that mask if I win. See you soon."
The bold hottie blushed and turned around, quickly walking away into the door leading to the arena.
"Hey, where's my consent…?"
Hashirama called back, but the girl was already gone. He turned, finding Beidou giving him a dry look, while some of the guys in the waiting room gave him looks of jealousy.
Sighing, Hashirama shrugged and went to a nearby window with Beidou. From there, they all observed the battle in the arena below.
**
**
**