"My name is Cavendish. I didn't have to tell you my name because... everybody knows who I am" stated the young man.
"How beautiful!" sighed in awe one of the female staff. "The 'Pirate Noble' of the white horse - Cavendish-sama!"
The girls faceplanted on the floor as they let out giddy laughs like schoolgirls, glowing hearts above them. You stared at them with an annoyed look, not understanding what's so special about that guy in particular. Cavendish chuckled at their antics, bringing his rose closer to his mouth.
"How sinful it is to be this beautiful!" he said snobbishly. "Perfect as this rose. That is what I am"
"The only sin I could consider from you is hearing you speak...." you mumbled, arms folded across your chest.
"I've been blessed with everything all my life. Because I've made it this far without eating a Devil Fruit or even really trying. Just with my natural gifts!" Cavendish offered with a charming smile, bringing the flower between his teeth.
Luffy, who wasn't listening at all, climbed on a scale in the far room. The machine broke under his weight, signaling that he had too much armor on. A man from the Colosseum noted the result in his pad, gazing back at your captain:
"You're overweight" he said simply.
"What?!" cried out in surprise Luffy.
"I TOLD YOU EARLIER! COME HERE!" barked Cavendish.
"I look awesome this way!" the boy clicked his tongue, climbing down the scale. "That's why everybody's half-naked"
"No shit, Sherlock!" you growled. "Just take this armor off already!"
"Who's Sherlock?"
You heard the loud cheers of the crowd outside, and guessed there was a block already fighting. You wondered who would be crowned champion in this one.
"Everybody's excited!" noted Luffy, approaching Cavendish.
"Do you know what makes them so excited? It's blood" the blonde male said, pulling out a petal from his rose. "Gladiators are just part of a show for them. People get excited seeing a loser's blood"
"Hm. So it's really a Colosseum fight" you stated.
"Inside, people really show their true color" Cavendish continued, examining the petal he tore away from the flower. "They're bottling up frustration, fear, and anger everyday, and hiding their bestiality deep inside of them. But they want to let it all out. Who wants to see a prolonged match between heavily armored competitors? For them, this competition is just a show"
"Should I take off this cape, too?" wondered Luffy, grabbing the red piece of cloth. "But it looks so good..."
"Hey you" Cavendish earned your captain's attention once more. "I was watching you take down that big guy earlier. Who are you?"
"I'm Luffy!" answered automatically the boy, forgetting that he was undercover.
Your heart stopped beating in your rib cage, glaring at Luffy with your mouth agape and expression beyond mortified. Cavendish's eyes narrowed, and the gladiators who were close to hear whipped their heads in your direction.
"I'm gonna become the King of the Pirates!" continued the idiot, taking off his cape. The gladiators read the name on his back.
"Your name is Lucy!" snarled one of them.
"Oh yeah, it's Lucy" he said sheepishly, earning a shield behind his head. "Ouch!"
"DON'T CONFUSE US!"
"Oh, you're Lucy! I thought Straw Hat Luffy was here. I heard the real one is an eight-meter-tall giant!"
"PFFF!" you quickly muffled your laugh, earning a look from both Cavendish and Luffy.
"If you were really Straw Hat Luffy, I would have....killed you here and now" the blonde's expression turned dark.
"What? Why?" inquired Luffy.
"I entered the New World three years ago" started Cavendish. "The whole world was talking about this beautiful rookie who was worth over 200 million. Newspapers covered me everyday. Girls went nuts over my wanted posters"
"Urg, Realm of God..." you let out a disgusted noise, folding your arms.
"They stole all of the posters throughout a town. Everybody was going crazy about me" he continued to boast his ego, imitating fans.
"Hey, big star!"
"Who? Me?"
"Of course!"
"Cavendish-sama, look at me!"
"Don't worry! I'm always looking at you all!"
You deadpanned as you watched Cavendish giving himself kisses by imitating in an exaggerated manner a fangirl. Not that it could be farther from the truth. Then, the blonde's shoulders started to shake as he griped his rose harder, gritting his teeth:
"But a year later....Whitebeard's War of the Best drew their attention away! Straw Hat Luffy came into the public spotlight along with Whitebeard!" he snarled. "On top of that, new rookies kept coming up one after another and became popular as the Worst Generation and wreaked havoc like crazy! Reporters don't pay attention to me anymore!"
"How terrible..." you drawled in sarcasm, and you nearly fell on your butt as Cavendish leaped from his seat to take your hands.
"It is indeed, my lady! That's why I'm gonna kill them! Those annoying newcomers! ALL OF THEM!"
"What you're saying is absurd" said Luffy as you pried your hands off from the blonde's hold.
"Say whatever you want" huffed Cavendish. "To recapture everybody's heart I would kill as many newcomers as it takes!"
As if his personality did a complete 180 degrees, Cavendish returned to his persona with sparkles everywhere around him.
"To do so, I'm gonna win the Flare-Flare Fruit today!" finished Cavendish, but blinked when he realized that Luffy was back on the scale, having ignored him.
"Your weight is okay now" said the man with the pad.
"Great!" cheered Luffy.
"HEY, YOU CAN'T IGNORE ME LIKE THAT!"
After the whole check-up, you and Luffy were free to roam around the arena before your fight in your blocks. Your captain kept admiring the statue of Kyros, a champion from the Colosseum around 20 years ago.
"King of Gladiators" you read on the message encrypted inside the rock.
"Hmm......How interesting. I ended up looking like this old man" noted Luffy.
"There's no doubt about it"
"Are you interested in that guy?" a feminine voice rang behind the two of you, and you turned to see a pink-haired girl wearing a very light gladiator outfit.
"Who are you?" the young man inquired.
"I'm Rebecca. A gladiator" she introduced herself. "Thank you for what you did earlier. I didn't like Spartan"
"Ah, don't mention it" he dismissed and she simply smiled.
"This man was a legend. He was the strongest gladiator in the history of the Corrida Colosseum named Kyros. He won 3000 out of 3000 matches. The only wound he ever got was a single slash" Rebecca stated.
"Wow! He was that strong?!"
"He used to fight here until 20 years ago. But no one in this country knows about him"
"Really? How's that?" you wondered.
"None of elders or gladiators in this country has ever seen him. It's the strangest statue in Dressrosa. We don't know if Kyros the Gladiator actually existed or somebody made up the story. And when and why they built this statue here. All we know is what's written on this plate right here" Rebecca pointed with her sword at the words. "Although nobody knows about him, nobody wants to remove it. That's strange too"
"Hmmm.....It's so mysterious but..." trailed Luffy. "....I like this statue! It's manly!"
"I like it, too" smiled the girl, but frowned when she heard catcalls behind her.
"Hey, great warrior - Rebecca-chan!" laughed a man.
"An undefeated girl! We know you'll do it today, too!"
"I'm sure you were happy earlier! To see Spartan who bullied you for a long time got his ass kicked" another approached her, leaning a little to close.
"Stop it, idiot! Let's go!"
"Everybody's looking forward to see you get beat!"
The fools left her alone while laughing obnoxiously, all the while continuing to mock her. Luffy frowned at them, not liking in the slightest the exchange:
"What's wrong with them?"
"Don't pay attention to them" simply murmured Rebecca, a shadow covering her face. Her lips were trembling, as if she was keeping herself from crying. "I...I'm gonna fight for the last time today. I'm gonna win the Flare-Flare Fruit and...kill Doflamingo!"
"What?! Mingo?!" cried out in surprise Luffy, watching as she turned on her heels and walked away.
"What blocks are you two in?"
"C"
"E" you answered.
"Great. I'm in D. I hope we all survive the first round. Lucy and (fake name)" she waved goodbye, disappearing at the end of the hallway.
"Hey, (y/-- I mean (fake name)! Why don't we take a look at the fight to see what's look like?" asked Luffy, already running in the direction of the stages to watch.
As you two got closer, the louder became the cheers of the crowd and the voice of the announcer. From what you could understand, the champion in Block A was already decided.
"What an interesting beginning! And an unexpected competitor!" boomed the announcer. "The battle royal of Block A - the winner is...."
Luffy struggled to get a look, jumping up and down to see overpass the tall gladiators. You simply pushed them out of the way as you walked to stand at the ledge. Upon realizing who it was, your blood ran cold. Luffy did the same next to you, his whole being trembling in anger.
"The captain of the first ship of the fearful Yonko Blackbeard's group - Jesus Burgess!!!"
"Wiihahahaha!!!!!!" laughed the bulky figure at the center of the stadium on a circular platform on water.
"He's....the champion we met that time!" said Luffy, recalling the meeting at Mocking Town.
"The Blackbeard Pirates?!" whispered a gladiator.
"Why is such a guy fighting here?!"
"I can't believe it was Burgess! No wonder he was so formidable! I wonder if it will be the same for BLOCK E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Block E? It seems it's my turn" you said. "See you later, Luffy"
"Good luck, (y/n)!" cheered Luffy, and you became mortified as several heads turned in your direction.
"Did he say (y/n)? Like in, Silvers (y/n)?!"
"That can't be her. She looks frail and delicate"
"Frail and delicate?!" you thought bitterly, before biting your tongue from shouting something you'll regret.
Giving the middle finger to Luffy who was totally clueless about the situation, you made your way toward the entrance of the stadium where some gladiators were gathered. While it wasn't abundant like other blocks, there was a lot of people.
And you were the only woman. The joys of entering a competition who seems to attract more muscle-heads like Zoro then female gladiators like Rebecca.
"Aw....Is the poor little girl lost? I think you have mistaken this place for a tea party" cooed an ugly-looking man.
"Aren't both the same?" you exclaimed in false innocence, placing a hand over your lips. "I mean, after I'm done with all of you, your teeth will be laying all around the Colosseum, so...Though, I must say that you don't really have a lot of them to begin with"
"What did you say, you bi-!" he started, but was cut by one of his friends placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Let go. You will have your chance in a few minutes"
The ugly man grunted, following after his friend who didn't even cast a look at you. You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms over your chest as you waited for the match to begin. When it did, you were almost forced outside as the crowd of gladiators flew inside the arena. Taking notice of your surroundings, you caught sight of something big moving in the water. You were pretty sure it wasn't golden fishes they kept in their aquarium.
To amplify your point, what it looked like a bull-fish kind of animal with enormous horns leaped from its basin to splash the spectators who yelled loudly. You deadpanned at the sight, feeling already that it was no where near a normal match in a normal Colosseum.
"For our next match, we'll have the gladiators of Block E to fight each other until only one is left standing! The same rules of Block A applies to this block. If a fighter fall in the water or faint, you. Are. Eliminated!" said the announcer through his snail transponder.
You noted how you were the center of attention of the gladiators, all of them already aiming to eliminate the only woman in this block. As if those cowards thought it will be simple to discard you. Well, they are in for a surprise. From the audience, you caught sight of Franky and the toy soldier from before, the first already cheering for you like a personal cheerleader:
"AOW! KICK THEIR BUTTS, LADY!" shouted Franky, doing his pose.
"Can he shut up for a minute?" you grumbled, dismissing the cyborg with a wave.
"(y/-- I mean (false name)! You can do it!!!" enriched the voice of your captain in the background, and you facepalmed.
"SHUT UP ALREADY!" you snarled at them.
"Our dear spectators, prepare yourselves for another match that will take your breath away! Who will pass for the next round? Who will win the Flare-Flare Fruit? Maybe the winner is right there, in Block E! So let's speed things up, and be ready to go all loose!"
You took a defensive stance as the gladiators griped their weapons tightly. They were practically drooling for blood at this right moment, not mentioning the audience who looked impatient for the fight to start.
"The match will start in 3......." counted the announcer, the crowd shouting in unison.
"Watch your back girly-girl. We are coming for you" said the ugly man from before.
".....2!......."
"We'll see about that" you simply smirked.
".....1!......."
A loud bell chimed, announcing the debut of the fight. Already, the gladiators were charging at you, a minority not even paying attention at you and fought the closest person to their side. You cracked your knuckles, your eye flashing purple behind your shades.
"Let's get started....shall we?"