-Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Six-
"I saw that cheater! You went too early on that last one!" Sanji fumed after losing.
"Shut up!" Zoro snapped. "You're just mad because you lost...like you always do..." he scoffed, already starting to throw shade the blonde's way.
"What?" Sanji frowned. "I always lose, huh? We'll just see about that—let's do best three out of five!" he angrily demanded
"You'll just lose again" Zoro mocked.
"So is the chef your Ball Man or what? Hurry up!" Pickles impatiently demanded as Hamburg started to giggle, quick to find humor in the situation playing out before him.
"Sanji, that hat looks great on you!" Nami suddenly chirped, clearly complimenting the blond in hopes of settling him down and stopping him and Zoro from wasting any more time with this silly feud of theirs.
"Can you two just get on with the match so we can get this done and over with?" I groaned.
"Alright—let's rock! Ball Man's here to kick some ass!" Sanji cheered, perking right up upon hearing the ginger's compliment.
"I admit, it does suit you—you look like a real prince...from the Kingdom of Lame Asses" Zoro said, instantly triggering a fight between him and the blond.
"You're wasting time! Start the match!" Usopp snapped.
"You suck!" Sanji sneered once he and the swordsman were done fighting and settled on insulting each other.
"No, you suck" Zoro growled back as the two started to bicker with one another once more.
"Hey, hold it!" the referee suddenly shouted, stopping the two from fully entering the field. "No weapons on the field, pal—you got to lose the swords" he said, jabbing a finger toward Zoro and motioning for him to get rid of the swords.
"Huh? Those the rules?" Zoro frowned.
"Yep, because this is a ball game! Can't have you slicing each other up, now can we?" Itomimizu chuckled as the swordsman heaved a sigh and reluctantly handed his swords over to the referee.
"Hey!" I called out to the referee, causing him to halt and turn his head just as he was about to place the swords down. "I can take those for you, if you don't mind" I offered, sweetly smiling as he slowly nodded before handing the swords over. It was better for someone on the crew to hold onto them than for them to just lay discarded off to the side.
"Fine, my fists are all I need" Zoro grinned, pounding his fists together and making it clear that he was still strong even without his blades.
"You sure you're going to be okay out there?" Sanji suddenly asked. "A swordsman without his swords is just...well..." he trailed off as if he didn't want to finish that sentence.
"What?" Zoro frowned.
"A normal guy, only lamer" Sanji insulted, triggering another fight between the two.
"That wasn't even a good burn! Get over it!" Usopp snapped.
"You cannot be that petty enough to get upset over such a weak-ass insult like that!" I scolded.
"That certainly took long enough, but it looks like the Straw Hats Ball Man is finally making his way to the opponent's circle" Itomimizu said as the two finally quit fighting and started making their way onto the field and into their appropriate positions.
"Hey, Cook, hope you get trampled over there!" Zoro called out to the blond.
"Up yours!" he snapped back.
"Oh wow, such great motivational speakers—so touching, please remind me to go to them whenever I need reassurance" I sarcastically said, causing Nami to chuckle.
"The crowd is hungry for action today" Itomimizu remarked as the crowd started to cheer.
"Big Pan, are you ready to make grown men cry?" Pickles questioned.
"He can't hear you!" Hamburg laughed when the Wotan gave a confused grunt in response.
"Come on, man!" Pickles laughed, patting the giant's stomach. "Pay attention for once! It's not that funny—stop laughing!" he laughed even harder with the giant soon joining in on the two's laughing fit.
"What should I say? The Groggy Monsters are always up for a good laugh—now, why don't we go over a few quick rules?" Itomimizu suggested as Zoro started to stretch out his arms and legs while he waited for the game to officially start. "There's no time limit and the first team to score wins—can team Straw Hat win back the reindeer they lost in Round One or will they lose another member?" he dramatically asked. "As you can see, Foxy's returning champions are laughing in the face of their competition—will they be the ones to laugh last? The whistle is about to sound" he said just as it blew, signaling the start of the game.
"Let the game begin! We start with Ball Man Sanji deep in enemy territory—will he retreat or attack?" he pondered.
"Let's do this!" Pickles cheered as he rushed toward the blond.
"Tackle Machine Pickles takes up with a heavy charge!" Itomimizu announced.
"Okay, just got to head to their Ball Man and finish them off" Sanji told himself with a firm nod, already planning out what he needed to do to win this game and end it as quickly as possible.
"Sling Pickle!" Pickles continued to charge toward the blond, prepared to send him flying.
"Get out of my way!" Sanji growled, hopping over Pickles as made his way toward the large Wotan. "Let's see what you got, big man—hope that fathead of yours fits into the goal" he said, prepared to attack. But before he could land a single kick, the giant suddenly raised his fist, causing the blond to quickly jump out of the way and instead land on the giant's arm. "Hey, what's going on here? His skin's all slimy!" the blond shouted in disgust as he started sliding down the length of the Wotan's arm, unable to find his footing at all.
"The chef is slipping and sliding on Big Pan's massive arm! But that's no surprise, after all, Big Pan is a Loach Fish Wotan—they have slippery skin" Itomimizu chuckled.
"What the heck are you doing?" Zoro frowned. "Stop screwing around! Get down here!" he snapped as Hamburg rushed right past him.
"You better watch what you wish for, swordsman!" Sanji sneered as he finally found his footing and started to slide down Pan's arm...only to then be harshly smacked right off it and sent flying right toward the goal.
"This is it! Big Pan's Super Long Pass!" Itomimizu excitedly cheered.
"Sanji!" Luffy gasped as the blond started to scream in what I can assume was mainly frustration.
"Team Captain Hamburg races onto the scene for the catch, but Zoro is in hot pursuit as well!" Itomimizu commentated.
"If that stupid head of yours makes it anywhere near the goal, I'm going to chop it off!" Zoro angrily threatened.
"You talk big, but just wait 'til I get down there!" Sanji snapped.
"Sweeping Tackle!" Pickles was quick to tackle Zoro to the ground and prevent him from possibly interfering with their chances at winning.
"Pickles crosses over the rival's line! Meanwhile, Hamburg flies high for a fancy midair catch!" Itomimizu announced as the primate jumped into the air and caught the blond that had been flying toward him. "Perfect, and then?" he questioned as the monkey hastily tossed the chef over toward Pickles.
"I got him! I got him!" the man laughed, rushing toward the blond coming his way as Zoro quickly dashed after him.
"Pickles dashes into position" Itomimizu relayed. I felt it rather silly for him to even bother commentating for this game seeing how it wasn't that hard to see compared to the previous one...but, then again, Foxy's crew was quite large. There was a possibility that some of them were too far back and unable to really see what was currently happening.
"Get back here, dammit!" Zoro growled.
"Zoro goes for an interception!" the announcer exclaimed as Pickles spun around to face the advancing swordsman.
"Spinning Tackle!" he wasted no time in spinning around and around in circles before harshly tackling Zoro.
"Uh-oh..." Sanji mumbled when he saw that he was now falling straight toward the spinning man.
"With his partner down, Ball Man Sanji is sent flying into the sky" Itomimizu said as the blond was instantly knocked back up into the air the minute he brushed against Pickles' spinning body.
"Sanji!" Usopp worriedly cried.
"This isn't looking good..." I mumbled, nervously biting the tip of my thumb as I watched the game progress—it hadn't even been that long since it started and they were already getting tossed around like rag dolls.
"Bringing up the rear, Big Pan starts across the field and catches the falling Hamburg!" Itomimizu excitedly exclaimed. "Once again, Hamburg nabs Sanji with a perfect catch!" he eagerly relayed as the primate caught the blond. "Incredible! The ring is in sight—is this it?" he asked.
"This really isn't looking good..." I stressed as the possibility of losing this round started to rear its ugly head.
"You can't go down that easy!" Zoro angrily shouted toward the chef in Hamburg's hands.
"Cut it out!" Pickles irritably snapped the minute he felt the swordsman suddenly grab hold of one of his legs.
"Hurry! Do something, Zoro!" Usopp and Luffy frantically cried.
"You can't let them score!" I shouted. "You have to do something now!"
"The Straw Hats are running out of time!" Itomimizu announced.
"I know, I'm on it! You don't need to remind me!" Zoro grounded out through clenched teeth as he picked up the large man and tossed him right toward Hamburg who was now falling toward the goal. "It ain't over—I won't let you score!" he shouted.
"Alright, you've had your fun! Time to put me down, fathead!" Sanji growled. "I can't let Zoro bail me out of this—I'll never hear the end of it!" he scowled as he kicked the monkey off him and straight toward Pickles—instantly causing the two to painfully ram straight into one another. "And stay down" he irritably huffed.
"No goal!" Itomimizu declared, causing our small group to burst out cheering.