One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Seventy Six [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Six-

"I can't believe I fell for that nor did I expect us to drag this out to another round!" Foxy growled, sneering at Jacob the second the young man casually strolled back over to rejoin his team.

"I know, I know—I'll do better next time, boss" Jacob raised his hands in defense before rolling his eyes the minute his captain turned away.

"Listen, we need to win the next round—we'll use the you-know-what plan to seal everything" Foxy huffed, looking to the rest of his huddled-up team with a sly grin.

"You got it!" Girarin grinned.

"Yeah!" the rest of his team nodded.

"Now, it's time for the final round of the event! Both teams are at the starting line, ready to go, but it seems that Girarin alone is presenting the Foxy Devils" Itomimizu noted. "The rest of the team is off the track, could that mean they're planning to use their most devious trick of all?" he asked.

"Devious trick?" Sanji echoed.

"Does he actually have anything other than that Slow Slow Beam?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Come on, you both know it's just going to be that stupid Slow Slow Beam again, nothing else" Zoro scoffed.

"Oh, wow! You figured it out—yes, we're going to be using the Slow Slow Beam to stop your captain" Porche clapped with a grin. "That's our little plan in its entirety!" she innocently smiled, causing me to narrow my eyes in suspicion.

"Not that you're going to be able to do anything about it!" Jube laughed.

"As if! Weren't you paying attention to what happened two rounds ago?" Usopp scoffed. "Operation: Laugh and Fall will stop him cold—hey! Just skate like crazy Luffy!" he shouted to our captain, having complete faith that we wouldn't need to play cautiously this final round.

"Yeah, leave everything to me!" Luffy firmly nodded.

"Okay! It's time to begin the final round—and remember, this round will gain your team two points!" Itomimizu announced, reminding everyone that this round would determine who the winner was once and for all. "Ready...go!" and just like that, the two Point Getters were off at the sound of the whistle.

"Oh no! He's starting already!" Usopp gasped the second he saw Foxy getting ready to use his Slow Slow Beam. Nami and Usopp were quick to jump back into their strategy from before and just as I tried to move to join them, I was harshly yanked back by Zoro.

"Don't even think about it..." he grumbled, causing me to softly chuckle.

"Slow Slow Beam!" Foxy barely acknowledged the two pirates who were calling out to him—ignoring their insults and praises.

"Here it is! An onslaught of Slow Slow Beams!" Itomimizu exclaimed as our captain did his best to dodge all of them, not allowing a single one to hit him.

"What's going on? Why isn't Operation: Laugh and Fall working?" Usopp confusedly frowned, not understanding how the opposing captain had been so quick to grow a thick skin since the last time he and the ginger pulled this dirty trick of theirs.

"Huh? Were you two saying something?" Foxy shouted, mockingly showing off the earplugs he was wearing.

"Earplugs?! The Straw Hat Dangers have been outsmarted—that's our boss for you!" Itomimizu praised.

"Huh, so there really is a brain in that head of his..." I hummed, tilting my head and resting it against the palm of my hand as I crossed my arms.

"We're screwed!" Usopp cried when he realized that his and Nami's only plan was now obsolete thanks to the opposing captain's smart thinking.