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"No, the beam's slowing down the effects of the punches" Zoro says when he gets a closer look to see Luffy's face slowly twisting from the attacks. When Foxy stops, he takes a few steps back to enjoy his handiwork just as his opponent's speed is returning.
"Fehfehfeh, now that was a good workout. I wonder how far you'll fly from the hits"
"Daaaammnn YYoouuuuu..." Luffy drawls out just before his speed returns for him to feel every punch that he took in the past thirty seconds.
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Sanji looked down to see Anamaria holding onto Zoro's arm due to the excitement and he nearly growled at the swordsman before going to watch the fight once more.
Luffy groans from all the hits as he's knocked off his feet and is sent flying over the railing of the ship. He won't go down so easily though, for he stretched his arm to grab onto the railing and pulled himself back onto the ship. When he plants his feet to the deck, he looks around to see that Foxy is nowhere to be seen.
"Where the hell are you bastard?!"
He runs to the upper deck in search of his prey but stops when he hears the sound of crossbows firing. He looks to his right to see three arrows flying towards him, so he quickly ducks to avoid the shots!
"Fehfehfeh, not a bad dodge Straw Hat!" Luffy turns around to see Foxy casually standing on the upper deck's inner railing.
"There you are!" he runs to the railing to go after him, but Foxy jumps backwards to avoid the right hook punch.
Luffy looks over the rail with wide eyes to see that Foxy's now standing on a floating cannonball and is surrounded by a dozen others that are in the same state as the one he's standing on.
Luffy quickly goes after him by jumping onto a nearby cannonball, but it regained its speed just before his feet can land on it. He yelps in shock as he falls on the deck while Foxy jumps off his cannonball to land on the railing of the upper deck.
The afro wearer groans in annoyance as he gets up, just when the rest of the cannonballs regain their speed and explode on the lower deck where he stands. Over in the sidelines, each Straw Hat is finding the fight painful for how Foxy is using all the tricks on the ship to his advantage in the unfair fight.
"COME ON LUFFY, GET UP!" Nami yells as she and the others watch him get up just when Foxy stands behind a strange looking cannon.
"And now for my next trick, taste my face bombs!" he fires a line of slow bombs in Luffy's direction with each bomb looking exactly like the attacker.
"THAT'S CREEPY!" Luffy yells when he jumps out of the way only to see that the Foxy bombs can slowly fly past them.
"What the hell? Are these really bombs?" Luffy curiously asks when they casually fly past him.
"Of course they're bombs, they just didn't explode yet" Foxy says as he pretends to be one of the bombs by walking in the line.
His opponent didn't realize it was Foxy who was talking until he gets punched straight in the face by the slow beam user. Luffy groans from the hard punch as he's knocked on his ass just as Foxy starts walking away from the floating bombs.
"Just so you know, they're about to regain their speed right about...!"
The bombs had beaten him to the punch for they went off all across the lower deck. The audience is completely speechless of the sight as the explosion blocks their sight of the fight. The announcer only chuckles at his captain's strategy as gets on his bird to fly over the ship and speaks through an intercom to narrate.
"Looks like our boss has secured another quick victory! Needless to say, it isn't a surprise when it comes to our...!"
"Will you shut up?! You're too loud!" the announcer turns his head to the nearby voice to see that Luffy had managed to dodge the explosion and has perched himself on the crow's nest-
"HE DODGED IT?!" the announcer and the rest of the Foxy pirates yell out from the unexpected twist of the enemy surviving! When the smoke cleared, they become even more shocked when it's their own captain who experienced the force of the blast.
"How stupid is this guy?!" Nami asks with the only answer was Ana's shouts that made her sweat drop at the older woman's excitement.
"HELL YEAH CAP! THAT'S HOW YA DO IT!!" Anamaria shouted from besides Sanji and Robin, throwing her hand in the air as she cheered her captain on.
"QUIT PLAYING AROUND!" Luffy however, is not amused by his opponent's stupidity when he jumps off the crow's nest and lands on his fist.
"SHUT UP AND DIE!" Foxy says as he gets up and grips the lever right next to it, then pulls it for a trap door to open under Luffy's feet.
"Whoa!" Luffy yells as he falls into the run under the deck just before it closes up.
"Fehfehfeh!" the cheating pirate laughs at his plight as he runs inside to set up the many traps that are waiting for the rubber man below deck.
"HEY, WE CAN'T SEE THE FIGHT!" Usopp yells along with a few of the foxy pirates because they're being forced to just wait for the boxers to come outside.
"Shit..." Ana says in a pout because of not being able to see the action.
"How long are we gonna be waiting?" Zoro asks as they wait on in anticipation with the others. Their eagerness only grew when they could hear punches and yelling between the two fighters from inside the boat!
"COME ON LUFFY! KICK HIS ASS!" Anamaria keeps yelling as she tried to see over the smoke in hopes of her captain hearing.
"There's no way he'll lose with the afro!" Usopp says with complete confidence.
"Yea, Foxy doesn't have a chance" Sanji agrees as he stares at the ship.
"What does an afro have to do with it?" Nami sweat drops at the weird faith in a wig and looks at them just when the sound of an explosion, and glass breaking fills the air.
Everyone on the bleachers exclaim their surprise when the explosion comes out from under the deck with fire and mirror shards flying into the air. When the smoke clears away, the outcome shows Foxy standing proudly, with burns and scrapes on his body, while Luffy is lying face first on the deck with the same amount of injuries.
"How did Luffy get burns from a boxing match?!" Chopper is completely horrified by the injuries his friend had received.
"Split-head probably cheated" Zoro says as he narrows his eyes on the ship.
"He's getting up!" Robin says when she and the others watch Luffy slowly getting up.
The Straw Hat captain doesn't care for the cheers on the stands as he stands up with his determined eyes focused on his opponent. Foxy refuses to give him any mercy though, for as soon as he got back on his feet, he fires a slow beam on him and hits him with a barrage of punches.
"QUIT CHEATING WITH THE BEAM!" Usopp furiously yells out as he gets up.
"Settle down Usopp!" Zoro calls out as he pulls Usopp back to his seat, even though he's just as pissed as the sniper "O-Oy Ana you too!" he says as he grabs the woman to sit her down once more.
Sanji and Anamaria also share their anger while Nami, Robin and Chopper share a worried look for the pain Luffy's taking in the fight. The pirates outside their crew however, cheer for their winning captain with no regards for the unfair advantage.
When Foxy is finally done, he allows Luffy to fall on his hands and knees. Thinking that he won't get up again, he turns his back to him and walks away in pride of his dastardly work, without knowing that Luffy is getting back up.
"Fehfehfeh, you've put up a good fight Straw Hat, but this is the end. Don't worry, I'll be sure to take good care of that woman as the crew's slave" that last comment infuriates the injured rubber man just as he gets back on his two feet.
"You bastard..." Foxy stops in shock of the angry voice behind him and turns around only to earn a punch to the face to send him flying.
"WHOA!" both Foxy and Straw Hat alike are astounded by the strong punch as they watch Foxy's head crash to the railing to stop him from falling to the ocean.
None of them heard what Foxy said to Luffy due to his crew's cheering, but they were all amazed at how it got Luffy so worked up. Foxy forces himself up from the strong hit and couldn't believe his eyes when he sees Luffy ready to fight.
"I won't let you take her, or anyone else in my crew! To keep them safe, I'll fight to the death!" the rubber man barely cares about his surprise as he approaches his enemy.
"Then die!" Foxy growls at his stubborn opponent as he puts up his fists.
The two boxers give it their all in a flurry of fists. As the audience watches Luffy's strong willpower, both crews are in awe of the captain's determination to not give up until he's the winner.
The two warriors refuse to give the other an inch as they throw their punches. Foxy decides to end it by preparing another slow beam in his right hand to punch Luffy into a slow stupor. The joke is on him though, for when he throws the fist, Luffy punches him hand, and the beam gets redirected towards its creator.
"Whhaaattt tthhheee heeellll?" Foxy instantly slows down from the surprise, and barely moves his eyes when his opponent catches his breath.
Luffy heavily pants from all the damage he took as he steps back on shaky legs and drops his fist as well as the mirror that was hidden in his hand.
"So, his beam can be reflected" Robin says with interest, while most of the others in the audience were surprised by the clever move.
"HAH! 'AVE A TASTE OF YER OWN MEDICINE BASTARD!" Anamaria and Zoro shouted in unison.
"Yoooouuuu litttlllleee shiitttt..." Foxy drawls out while Luffy glares at the man who's been causing his crew so much trouble.
The rubber man is more than happy to end this once and for all, so he grabs his elbow to swing his forearm into the air like it's a medieval flail to give his fist as much momentum as possible.
"Gum gum..." as soon as Luffy felt like his arm has enough force to send him flying off the ship, he releases his arm to let it hit him straight in the face "Flail!"
Still being under the effects of his own beam, Foxy slowly takes the effect of the hit by a dent being made in his head. While his speed slowly returns, the straw hats slowly count down the seconds until the beam goes off. As they go from ten to five, the Foxy Pirates cautiously join in until both crews bring the count down to the last few seconds.
"3, 2, 1!" just like clockwork, the effects of the beam were gone, and Foxy felt the sheer strength of the punch that sent him flying off the deck, and off the ship.
"FOXY IS OUT OF THE RING AND OUT OF THE GAME! THE WINNER OF THE FINAL ROUND FOR THE DAVY BACK FIGHT IS MONKEY D LUFFY!" the announcer drops his jaw at the sight before he yells into the intercom.
"YEA!" Luffy roars in victory with his fists held high the audience is in an uproar.
"WAY TO GO LUFFY!" Usopp and Chopper yell out with tears in their eyes.
"THAT'S OUR CAP!" Ana and Nami jump together, the navigator finally celebrating as she saw that Luffy was fine.
"SHUT UP, IT'S OUR CAPTAIN THAT LOST!" Porche, who's near the front row, grows angry at her crew's cheering and screams. Her crew mates quickly shut up from the yelling and see that Foxy's unconscious body just fell into the ocean "CAPTAIN! WE'LL SAVE YOU!" The entire crew calls out, and rushes to the water to rescue him.
As Zoro picks up the sleeping captain, the afro wig that guaranteed his victory, falls off his hair, and onto the deck. Just as the crew goes to leave the ship, Ana trails behind and looks back at the abandoned wig. Looking side to side she quickly snatches it up and into her arms to take it with her.
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"And, that should do it" Chopper says as he wraps the last bandage around Luffy's shirtless torso while the others are waiting nearby for Luffy to wake up.
"I was worried back there" Nami sighed out.
"He was fine since he had the afro" Sanji says as he grabs a cigarette from his pocket.
"Speaking of which..." Zoro trails off when he sees Usopp wearing the afro that, Ana had taken, under his helmet and Luffy's straw hat "What the hell are you doing?"
"Feeling the power of the afro! I can feel my strength growing with every second!" Usopp answers as he flexes his arms as if they hold large muscles instead of twig like arms. Chopper is the first to react by exclaiming his joy as he admires Usopp's lies.
"Hey, I need a chance too!" Sanji says as he goes to grab it, but Usopp gets in a stance to protect the hairdo.
"Why did you take the wig?" Nami sweat drops at the fight before she looks at the one who brought the wig with her.
"Don' know. Looked interesting" Anamaria says before she joins Chopper at his side.
"I think captain-san is waking up" Robin giggles at the lively atmosphere when she sees Luffy stirring on the ground.
Everyone stops what they're doing, just before they spot Luffy slowly opening his eyes. As soon as he fully comes to, he shoots up into a sitting position and looks around for Foxy.
"What happened at the match?! Who won?!"
"Relax, you won" Zoro answers with a calm smile which immediately relaxes his friend.
"Thank god, it worked..." the winner lets out a breath of relief as he lays back down on the comfy grass to rest.
"STRAW HAT!" Luffy ignores Foxy's voice and stays down, while the others turn to the direction of Foxy's ship to see it's captain storming towards them.
Every standing Straw Hat becomes on edge when he approaches them, but they don't stop him from approaching Luffy's feet. Foxy could care less about the icy eyes on him as he looks down at the captain who had beaten the crap out of him.
"Thanks to you, I lost my perfect record..." Luffy doesn't say anything in response but grows surprised when Foxy extends a hand out for him to shake "You have my respect Straw Hat"
The rubber man grins at the friendly gesture as he sits up, while he puts his hat back on his head, and takes the hand. Instead of a respectful handshake though, Foxy grabs his rubber arm and tries to flip him over his shoulder. However, Luffy's body didn't go with his stretched arm and causes Foxy to headbutt the ground from using so much strength to try to throw him.
"Idiot..." Zoro mutters while the others just sweat drops at his stupidity.
"JUST PICK YOUR NEW CREW MEMBER ALREADY!" Foxy groans at the insult before he stands back up, with a bump on his head, and glares at Luffy.
Luffy nods in agreement as he stands up and puts his hat back on his head. He looks at the Foxy Pirates and knows for a fact that he has no interest in recruiting any of them.
He scowls at them, which makes every pirate from that crew nervous as he turns his head. He opens his mouth to say something, before he comes up with a brilliant idea.
"Luffy, what are you planning?" Nami grows nervous when she sees the large smile on Luffy's face, and steps up.
"Shishishi, I know exactly how to choose, but where...?!" Luffy look stops when he sees Usopp "There!"
Everyone grows confused when Luffy stretches his arm towards Usopp. Instead of grabbing the frightened sniper though, he grabs the wig that's still on his head and pulls it back, while the sniper's helmet falls back on his head. Luffy brings the afro by his side and shows it to the other crew.
"I WANT THE AFRO!"
"Oi that's mine!" Anamaria protested, being ignored by the others.
"WHAT?!" the majority of the Foxy Pirates yell out in horror that he would rather take one of their wigs instead of them.
"What do you mean you want the afro?!" Foxy is also completely dumbfounded and wants to get to the bottom of this.
"Exactly as I said, I don't want a crew member, so I'll take the afro instead" Luffy says as if what he said doesn't sound nuts at all.
Foxy and the others try to remember if there is anything saying that he can't, but they have nothing. If anything, it could be more of a relief for them since they won't lose a crew mate. Foxy clears his throat to regain his composure and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Alright Straw Hat, you can keep the wig. Only if you replace the Jolly Roger on our main sail"
"Sure!" he puts the wig on Nami's head, with her orange hair sticking out from under the afro and goes to replace the symbol. As he erases the symbol on the sail, and paints a new one, Anamaria goes off to the Merry.
"Hey, where are you going?" Chopper asks when he sees her walking off.
"I'm gonna bring this in the ship before Usopp and blondie fight over it again" Ana gives the doctor a soft grin before she pats the wig that's on her head.
The doctor nods in agreement as the woman goes back to the ship. As soon as she reaches the deck, she can hear the faint cries of how horrible the new jolly roger design is.
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"YOU'LL REGRET THIS STRAW HAT!" the Foxy Pirates cry out as they sail away in embarrassment of their crushing defeat by the small crew.
The Straw Hats just watch their departure from the coastline with gratitude that they no longer have to deal with their stupidity. With the smaller version of the flag that he won off of Foxy, he turns to the direction of Tonjit's house.
"I wanna drop off the flag to him."
"What use would the old geezer have with it?" Sanji knits his eyebrows at the weird reason as he watches him start to walk.
"We don't have any use for it, so he can have it" Luffy answers as he keeps on walking.
"I should do one more check on Shelly's injuries too" Chopper says as he starts following his captain.
"We should say goodbye to Tonjit anyway" knowing that nothing would change his mind anyway, Usopp starts to follow him.
The others quickly decide to follow along because they want to make sure that the idiot trio doesn't cause anymore chaos. The old man was sitting beside Shelly, as the horse is laying on the grass to rest her legs.
"You guys made it! How did the rest of the games go?" Tonjit notices the new arrivals and happily grins at the friends who saved his horse.
"We kicked their asses!" Luffy flashes him a toothy grin before he gives him the flag he won.
"You're all amazing! Thank you again for helping me protect Shelly" Tonjit looks at the flag in his hands with stars in his eyes before he smiles at the pirates.
"A pirate protecting someone? Now that's new"
A new, masculine, voice surprises everyone and turn to see a slim but slightly muscular, man, who's in his mid-forties, and his curly black hair held down by the sleep mask that's wrapped around his forehead, walking towards them.As he gets closer to them, everyone has to look up to the man in the navy-blue collared shirt, under the white button up vest that matches his pants, due to how overly tall he is.
The archaeologist quickly lost her smiling mask on sight of the older male and is showing a look of pure fear. When they see Robin's reaction, half of them become concerned for her while the other half become on guard because it's obvious that this man is the cause of it.
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Back on the ship, Anamaria feels the need to go after her crew and quickly gets up from her place with Sable at her heels as she runs towards where she was getting the feeling from.
End of Long Ring Long Land Arc
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