The Colloseum looked divine. But, considering it was a nice day outside, with a cool breeze, but no clouds, it was pretty cold where the sun couldn't reach, so I found myself shaking slightly.
The arena was open-air, me seing the sunlight beam onto the stage, as well as glitening on the water in the moat around it, the platform itself having no enterances or exits, and largely elevated above the water. We were on a path near the base of the colosseum, where the water was the same level as us.
I glanced to my other side, seeing bars on the windows that led to other halways, making my nerves get to me.
But what got to my nerves the most, was when we entered a large room, it was full of fighters twice my height and size! The fighters looked buff, and terribly strong, for the most part. There were a few guys who looked like giants, not to mention the weapons strayed on the walls.
"This is the waiting room for the competitors," The woman spoke, "Stay here until we call you."
"Talk about action central! Wow!" Luffy said as the woman left, and I stood on his right.
The only thing you could here, were blunt object hitting other things, like punching bags and sandbags, and people arguing about who would win. We even watched one extremely large man three times my height punch a whole through a punching bag!
Luffy walked through the people, me following closely behind. I kept drawing attention, specifically because I was a girl, and I didn't see any other females in the room we were in.
"You competin', doll face?"
"You ain't gonna last but you sure are cute."
I got uncomfortable, following Luffy closer as to make sure not to get seperated.
He walked through the path of a man with a quick sword, but we both used Observation Haki to dodge the sword without doing too much. A head tilt here and there, but we left the competitor in utter confusion.
The further we went in, and the more confused Luffy looked to be, the more I heard competitors speak of us. I hadn't seen any other women so far, and everyone in here looked like a boxer or a roman guard.
I stood and pinched my temples as Luffy walked around, staying very close to me, and just blatently staring at the people sparring and taking care of their weapons, without a care in the world!
Once he was done with our area, he grabbed my hand and pulled me behind him, watching a man karate chop a punching bag, "Looks like we can use any weapon we want."
Sadly, Luffy had walked us into a corner of people, and I heard someone keep a laugh low, as others chuckled.
"What's this? Some kind of joke?" I heard someone behind me say.
"Look's like they're the last entrees," Someone said, to the left of Luffy, making me look at him, "Against warriors like us, get serious!"
"This is more than a joke!" A larger voice bellowed behind me, "It's an insult to every gladiator here."
Luffy turned and kept walking, myself following, but someone blocked Luffy's path. The last gladiator who spoke, who was the biggest person I'd seen so far. I think he was trying to intimidate us, and it worked on me, but I didn't show it, because it didn't work on Luffy.
"What're you tryna pull, squirt?" The man looked to Luffy, "Think that fake beard makes you look tough?"
"Forget about it, Spartan," A kinder gladiator said from behind Luffy, me now on his left side.
"Who the hell wants to see the weak get crushed to a bloody pulp? The crowd thirsts for battle, between strong and manly warriors! This is no place for the likes of you! So piss off!" He barked at us, the word manliness directed towards me, to which I quietly scoffed.
He wound his arm back, "Here, let me help 'ya!" He aimed for Luffy, who moved closer to his left, simply dodging the punch with little to no effort needed.
Luffy's shoulder hit mine, and the man punch again, this time if I didn't move I would be hit. I dodged left as Luffy dodged right, the punch going through where we stood. The man who was punching us, Spartan, I think he was called, got angry and continued to relentlessly aim at us, to which both of us just kept dodging. Because of how big he was, I didn't need Observation Haki. I don't think Luffy did either.
Luffy dodged once more, but grabbed the hand he dodged and started spinning him around like a top, making the competitors, including Spartan himself gasp in shock. Luffy proceded to slam his body on the gound, opposite of the side I was on.
Standing behind Luffy, I could still see the broken cement below the combater. It was dead silent as the dust settled, and I could feel everyones eyes in this direction, specifically on Luffy. He looked up and chuckled, "My kinda place!"
"Woah! Did you see what that shrimp did to him?!" [Competitor]
"He just took down Spartan like it was nothing!" [Competitor]
"That's insane! He was one of the star competitors of the colosseum!" [Competitor]
"I dunno! Maybe he just tripped over himself!" [Competitor]
"That wouldn't lodge you in the ground!" [Competitor]
'And... we've still drawn attention...'
"Now, where too..." [Luffy]
"Did you start a fight before the event?" A voice said from behind Luffy. It was a tall man who dressed like the staff I'd seen around, "I'm afraid you're gonna have to leave. We don't need trash like you starting brawls before the match!" The man said to Luffy.
I put my hand on Luffy's chest and push him behind me, making me face the guard, bringing the politest tone to my voice, "I'm sorry, but that simply didn't happen!-"
I was swiftly cut off by a battle axe being flung and lodging itself between me and the staff member, scaring me and the man, as Luffy seemed unfazed, watching over my shoulder.
"Come on. Knock it off, you two." I looked to where the axe was thrown to see three men, all not very pleasant looking. They looked more like warriors than boxers, if you get what I mean.
One had long orange hair in a ponytail with a crooked smile and a green cloak, with a chestplate of gold and three swords on his back.
The one next to him, both with the heights of giants, hat long black hair. he was the one who threw the axe, had tanner skin and black hair standing wavily up, with a white piece of lacey cloth around his neck and another green cloak, as well as wearing a scowl.
The man behind them, taller than either of them, was wearing a large green shirt and had a long white beard with a very pointed forehead, and a tattoo over his left eyebrow, saying '12'.
The man with black hair stepped forward and pointed to the body behind Luffy and I, "The big guy started a fight he couldn't handle. He's the one you should disqualify!"
"If he weren't unconscious," The man with orange hair laughed.
Someone behind me spoke aloud, "I-I can't believe it! That's Sai and Boo from Kano! And that's Don Chin Jau behind them!"
'Kano? Isn't that where Kin'emon and Momonoskue are from? Wait, no, that's not right...'
'And... Don Chin Jau? Seriously?'
"And you're certain?" The staff in front of me spoke, but now speaking to a contestant behind him.
The man chuckled, "You can trust me. Spartan started it."
"In that case, Spartan is disqualified!" The staff member called, then turned to us, "And Lucy can still compete."
"Great!" Luffy said from behind me, and took the axe out of the ground, me just now realizing it had cut off a small fragmet of my dress. He walked over to the guys, me following, and gave them their axe back, "Thanks, you guys, I owe ya!"
"Hey, don't mention it, pip squeak," the one I'm assuming is Sai laughed, with the black hair, "Yeah, in fact, don't mention it at all. In fact, it kind of pisses me off when I hear someone say the words 'thank you'... TAKE IT BACK!"
Sai tried to jump at Luffy, but the one I'm assuming is Boo stopped him, as Luffy stumbled back into me, us both shocked by the man's actions as Sai yelled, "Take back your gratitude, you grateful bastard!"
"You don't have to reject it that hard, bro!" [Boo]
"If you ever say those words to me again, I'll kill you!" [Sai]
"Sorry, sometimes he gets a little worked up." [Boo]
"A little?" [(Y/N)]
"I guess there's all types out there." Luffy said, turning away from them.
There were a group near us talking about all of the big names, mantioning a few I didn't know, as Luffy asked the staff if there was any food.
They spoke about how there probably isn't any big name in here who doesn't plan to throw the match.
"Hey, which block do I fight in?" Luffy asked a female worker, who we found roaming around the people, taking names.
"The receptionist should have told you already." She said, looking between the two of us, then to her clipboard, " It says here that you're in Block C, and your friend is in Block B ."
"Oh... we're separated?" I asked, Luffy more upset about that than me.
"Yeah, we came in together!" He said, sounding confused.
"Well, it's all random," She looked around, then leaned in close to us, "Between you and me, the people who want to be together plan different times to enter, so they're in the same block," She stood and waved us off, walking away, "But you didn't hear that from me."
Luffy looked to me, "So we'll not be together?"
"It's for the better." I said, "I'm pretty sure this will be last man standing wins, so we don't have to watch out for each other," He seemed discouraged slightly, a small pout on his face, "Besides, you can go nuts," I winked, and he smiled, his enthusiasm came back.
All of a sudden, someone called for Block A. Since neither of us were in it, we went to the exit where the gladiators departed and listened to the rules of the games.
"For the first round, competitors will be divided into four blocks and engage in a battle royale!" The announcer spoke, the ringing of the microphone getting in my head, "For those who don't know-"
"Battle royale?" Luffy said, standing next to me picking his nose.
I, between him and the wall, hit his hand from his nose, "Shh! He's gonna explain."
"-a battle royale is where everyone fights simultaneously. Meaning everyone's the enemy excet yourself!" The announcer spoke, and I heard Luffy chuckle, a determined smirk on his face., "The match ends only when everyone else has been eliminated or killed in the arena!"
"The last Gladiator standing will be the winner! A competitor is out of the game if they get thrown out of the ring or asre cut down by an opponent! Meanwhile, in the moat circling the stage, we have a unique attraction. A school of little fighting fish waiting to devour anyone who falls in! Doesn't matter if you're in or out of the ring. Corrida colosseum is Hell! So who's ready for some pain and suffering?!"
I shuddered slightly, "We fall in, and there's no escape," I turned toward Luffy, "We need to be care-"
.
..
...
...he's gone...
'HE'S GONE?!'
I lept off of the spot I was leaning on on the wall and looked around frantically for any sign of the bearded man.
I ran down a corridor, "Luf- Lucy?!" I called, "Ugh! Every time I think he's getting better!"
I activated my Observation haki and immediately stopped running, freezing in my spot and looking down at my feet.
'Someones... watching me.'
I kept my head low and shut my eyes, relying solely on my Observation Haki. I glanced around, seeing only black and white surrounding me, until I looked through one of the other corridors.
There was a mix of pink on a green aura, oozing out of the corner. I turned to look physically, but no one was there, and using the Observation Haki, the sense was still there, but not visible.
Keeping it in mind, I continued down the corridor.
~~~
'There she is. Red Wood (Y/N)! In the flesh! Do I talk to her?! No! She'll think your creepy and hate you! Just keep your distance and-'
The green haired man ducked behind the wall roughly when the (H/C) woman jerked her head around. He could clearly sense how on edge she was. He peeked out only to see her retreating figure.
'She knew someone was following her. Th-That just makes her even more impressive!~'
Then it clicked for him.
The man put a shaky hand on his heart, his face burning red... 'S-She noticed me... (Y/N)-SENPAI!~'
[A/N: 🙂]