49 Chapter 13

As the Groggy Monsters walked closer to the, physically, much smaller participants from the Strawhat crew, they tried to rile them up. Pickles, the middle-sized member was the first to speak, "Since the captain specifically appointed us to the game... I thought our opponents would be tougher than this. Right, Big Pan?"

"....."

"...."

"Huh?"

Hamburg stood off to the side covering his mouth with his hands as he giggled to himself. The monkey-looking man seemed to find just about anything funny. The three members of the Strawhats just remained silent and held the smirks on their faces. It seemed to annoy the Groggy Monsters but there was nothing they could do about it. As the referee came onto the field for the coin toss, Markus spoke up. He used electricity to amplify his voice, a simple trick that was kind of the opposite of his hearing, "Listen up Foxy! I won't stop you or any of your members from cheating in the game. However, I will warn you now, there will be consequences if you do!"

His gaze moved from the unafraid and smirking Foxy to the referee for the Groggy Ball game. The Ref began to sweat and swallowed loudly but pretended to see nothing. The coin was tossed and the Groggy Monsters won the toss. They chose to have the ball first which meant Markus had to stand in a circle located in the center of their side of the field. He was surrounded by three people who towered over him, each bigger than the last. Still, he had that almost condescending smirk on his face.

As he got into position he heard the Ref shouting at Zoro, "Hey you! It's against the rules to use weapons. Put them away!"

Zoro glanced at the Ref, "Eh? Really?"

With a shrug of his shoulders, he gave his katana's to Robin to look over. He might not trust her but she wouldn't lose them like a certain rubber headed captain or try to sell them like a certain thieving cat. As Zoro did that, Markus looked at the Ref, "You better remember that rule if it comes up again. I'd hate for something to happen to you because you didn't heed my warning."

As everyone got into position, Pickles looked down at Markus, "Little man, let us stomp you flat okay?"

Markus still had the smirk on his face as he looked up at Pickles, "Go for it, but it's your funeral if you do."

Pickles just got an evil look on his face as he spoke, "Big Pan, let's finish this at lightning speed."

The Strawhat team had trouble keeping their faces straight when Pickles used that phrase. Meanwhile, Big Pan remained stationary for a few seconds before saying, "Huh?"

Hamburg started laughing which lead to a chain reaction until the three members of the Groggy Monsters were all laughing. They continued to laugh until the Ref shouted out, "READY?! ... BEGIN!!"

The moment he uttered those words the Groggy Monsters all became serious. Pickles immediately charged at Markus while lowering his stance and positioning one of his shoulders near the ground with the shield pointed directly at Markus, "DIE!!"

Markus made no effort at all to even attempt dodging Pickles. In his view, Pickles was moving at a snail's pace with no real power behind his charge. Zoro and Sanji had their arms crossed, just like Markus, with the same 'evil' smiles on their faces. All of the Foxy crew members were shouting taunts about Markus being too scared to move, discounting the smirk he had. Their mockery turned to shock as Pickle's 'hit' Markus and split his body clean in half at the waist. No one had time to process the sight of Markus's torso flying through the air as a large electrical surge plowed through Pickles and burned him black.

Pickles collapsed to the ground with smoke rolling off of his body while Markus slowly reformed from multiple pieces of purple lightning. There was absolute silence and no one was moving as they stared in utter shock at the scene they had witnessed. The lower tier cadre of Foxy's crew only knew the basics of a Devil Fruit. Logia's were the rarest and none of them had seen one in person. Their shock at seeing the scene of Markus being ripped in half and reforming while electrocuting Pickles was something they couldn't understand.

While every non-Strawhat person was still shocked, Markus, Zoro, and Sanji all moved at once. Zoro and Sanji charged at Big Pan, the ball for the Groggy Monsters. Markus barely moved and just cocked his leg back while purple lightning began to wrap around it and crackle. He swung his leg forward and punted Pickles, someone four times his height and width, out of the field. Pickles was still alive, barely, but wouldn't be getting back up anytime soon to rejoin the game. Markus ignored the small experience gain from defeating Pickles and watched his two teammates.

Sanji was the first to reach Big Pan. Though Zoro was fast, his running speed couldn't keep up with someone who focused all his fighting strength into his legs. Sanji would always inherently be faster than Zoro at running due to his specialized training. Seeing the two other members of the Strawhats moving awoke Hamburg and Big Pan from their stupor. Big Pan didn't move but he had his attention on Sanji. Hamburg, on the other hand, ignored Sanji and Markus to charge at Zoro. Hamburg might look and act like an idiot but he wasn't about to try to touch Markus yet. It was better to take out his teammates first!

Sanji closed in on the half-giant Big Pan and leaped into the air. Seeing him coming, Big Pan threw a massive punch at Sanji. Sanji flipped over the punch and landed on Big Pan's arm. It wasn' a bad idea really, Big Pan's arm was more than big enough for Sanji to run on. The problem was, Big Pan's Fishman half came from a loach allowing him to cover his skin in a viscous and slippery slime. Sanji discovered this when he tried to run and his feet just slipped making him look like an old Acme cartoon character running in place.

Zoro got ticked off and a bit distracted as he yelled, "WHATE ARE YOU DOING IDIOT?!"

Markus just laughed along with Hamburg at Sanji's plight. Still, he didn't neglect threa.... helping to remind Zoro of something, "Zoro, don't lose focus or I might think you need more training!"

Hearing the friendly 'reminder' from Markus, Zoro scoffed, "That slowpoke?"

As he finished speaking, Zoro seemingly vanished from Hamburg's sight. The next moment Hamburg was tossed into the air as Zoro unleashed a vicious uppercut from below his sightline. Zoro buried his fist in Hamburg's stomach bending him in half before launching him into the air with blood trailing out of his mouth.

At the same time, the oblivious Big Pan threw his other hand forward with a flat palm and slapped Sanji off of his arm with great force, "Punk Pass!"

With no Pickles or Hamburg to combo attacks on him, Sanji managed to recover in the air and land on his feet. He was only slightly wounded with a little blood dripping from his nose. Markus watched the two while grinning. It looked like his time training them was paying off. Sanji could have dodged Big Pan's blow if he was able to grip the surface with his feet. That being the case, Markus graciously forgave his mistake.

With Pickles down for good and Hamburg down for at least a while, it was now three-on-one. Markus still hadn't moved from his starting position while the only person to even get moderately injured was Sanji. A big difference from the canon story. Markus glanced over his shoulder at Foxy and saw the look of utter shock on his face. His mouth was hanging open with his eyes bulging out. The sentiment seemed to be shared with most of his crew. The Strawhats, on the other hand, were grinning from ear to ear. After seeing Foxy cheat in the race they were enjoying the sight of him not being able to do anything.

Markus turned his head a little more and looked at Zoro and Sanji, "What are you two waiting for? Go score already. I'm getting peckish."

Both Sanji and Zoro felt a shiver run down their spine. They knew that tone. Markus only ever used it when he was getting annoyed with them and it usually led to extra bruises. The two of them instantly decided to work together and charged at Big Pan. Big Pan didn't sit still and started his own charge. As he lifted his feet high in the air and stomped down, giant blades like murderous cleats could be seen on the bottom of his shoes.

Seeing the huge blades attached to his shoes, Zoro and Sanji both dodged out of the way so they wouldn't get mulched. Markus heard Sanji shouting at the referee, "Hey Ref! I thought weapons weren't allowed?!"

The referee looked off to the side while whistling badly and sweating profusely. Foxy started laughing in his annoying way, "Fuehehehehehe The ref can't see 'everything'."

This instantly infuriated Sanji, he swung his leg and sent his shoe flying right into the ref's face, "You cheap mother fucker!"

Markus decided to put an end to the farce, "Sanji. Score before I get really hungry."

Sanji instantly grabbed his shoe and charged back into the game while Markus turned to the referee, "I hope 'karma' doesn't come back to bite you in the ass after this game is over."

The referee turned his head once again, "I did not see... anything."

Markus nodded. He would punish the referee soon enough but not during the game as it would likely end in a disqualification. It might seem stupid but Luffy and the others would stick to the rules even if it killed them. Markus intended to follow the same ethic, but that wouldn't stop him once the game was over.

Markus watched as Zoro and Sanji ran at Big Pan side by side. Zoro glanced at Sanji from the corner of his eyes, "Give me a hand for ten seconds shitty-cook, or Markus will pound us both."

Sanji grimaced, "Ten seconds? Sounds doable moss-head."

Zoro took the lead and charged directly at Big Pan. As soon as he was close enough he leaped into the air and took a pose as of he had swords in his hand. Big Pan started to swing his hands together like he was going to clap them together to crush a fly. It was too late. Exhaling a deep breath, Zoro muttered, "Mutoryu... Tatsu Maki!"

Zoro sprung his attack in mid-air, his whole body twisting around. An illusory image of a dragon appeared as his fists and a vortex caused by his spinning slammed into Big Pan's chest with enough force to knock him backward. As Big Pan fell, Sanji dashed behind him and jumped into the air. Sanji focused all his energy into his leg as he called out, "Anti-Manner... KICK COURSE!"

Sanji kicked his leg up a full 180 degrees until it was horizontal with his torso and slammed into Big Pan's spine with enough force to push Big Pan back into a standing position. Big Pan stood with his mouth hanging open and his eyes glazed over as his body tried to deal with the pain from the two attacks. Sanji and Zoro didn't stop there. The two charged at each other. As they got close, Zoro hopped into the air and landed on Sanji's outstretched leg. Sanji kicked his leg forward, "Air force power shoot!"

Zoro blasted through the air directly at Big Pan's head. As he got close he grabbed one of Big Pan's giant shark-like teeth and used the momentum from Sanji's kick to start dragging the half-giant's head backward with enough force to lift him off of the ground. Once the fall started, momentum took over. Within moments, Zoro slammed the back Big Pan's head into the goal and scored the winning point of the game.

The Strawhats on the sidelines cheered, minus Robin, while the Foxy Pirate's looked utterly flabbergasted. That didn't last long before they started cheering and yelling out compliments. Foxy ended up yelling at them for praising the opponents. It wasn't long before it was time for Luffy to pick who he wanted from Foxy's crew. Markus could see Chopper with tears in his eyes as he fervently wished for Luffy to pick him. With a large grin, Luffy began to speak, "Okay. I'll choose Cho..."

Nami cut him off, "Wait Luffy! The third match is a one-on-one and their player is their captain. So if we take that man now, we can get an automatic third win. In other words, we can get Chopper back without any more fights!"

Every one of the Foxy Pirates were incensed!

"That is downright dirty!"

"Cheap shit!"

Even the announcer got in on the name-calling, "What an unbelievably cold-blooded woman! She is pure evil and totally untrustworthy!" He elaborated, "Throughout decades of Davy Back Fight history, many people thought of such a trick, but... Nobody ever put such dishonor into action! I'm sure everyone here would agree with me! The third fight should be fought honorably, not avoided cowardly!"

The entire Foxy crew was booing Nami and calling her names. Sanji shouted back at them but his voice was drowned out by the crowd. Nami clutched onto Robin and fake sobbed, "They're so mean."

Insults kept coming in pissing off most of the crew, though Usopp openly agreed with Nami.

"Cheap ass!"

The final comment seemed to send Nami over the edge as she glared at the entire Foxy crew in a cold manner, "You're really starting to tick me off!"

Silence.

Markus covered his mouth to hold back a snicker. If he didn't know any better he would have sworn that Nami had used Conquerors Haki on all of them with how quickly her glare shut them up. In the silence, Robin looked at Nami, "Actually, Nami, if we do as you said we certainly will get an easy win. However, I don't want that split-head traveling with me."

Nami had a look of realization, "So true!"

Markus joined the other male members of the crew as they all simultaneously said, "Yeah. We don't need that kind of trash."

Foxy collapsed to the ground, depressed, as Luffy shouted, "Chopper! Come back!"

As Chopper came running with tears and snot streaming down his face, Markus tilted his head to the side. Something felt... off about that. Wasn't he supposed to get someone else first and then Chopper? Markus scratched his head but couldn't come to a conclusion. This part of the anime and manga really hadn't been all that memorable to him so he could just be remembering wrong. It didn't matter, Luffy had zero chance of losing the next game. He won in the canon story and he was much stronger now than he should have been.

While Markus was pondering if he was just remembering wrong, the location for the final battle had been selected. Unsurprisingly it was Foxy's ship thanks to the rigged cannon that was used to choose the field. Markus didn't pay attention to that and instead looked around with his Observation Haki. His lips curled into a cruel smile as he located his target.

Markus slipped through the crowds and walked directly toward the person he owed a little something to. As he got close, Markus clasped the man on the shoulder startling him. The man turned around to see Markus's not-so-friendly smile, "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"

Markus just shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing much, just letting karma have its way."

The man looked confused but Markus just smiled and patted him on the shoulder once more before walking away. The man looked at Markus confused but shrugged it off and went back to eating his food. A few moments later, Markus rejoined the Strawhats while someone screamed from the direction he'd come from, "He's dead!!"

Markus had kept his promise and killed the cheating referee. It wasn't that hard really. The second time he'd tapped his shoulder he'd sent a bit of electricity into the man's body and used it to roast his heart. It was easy for him to put out a ton of power at once, but smaller finer control was a pain in the ass. In his training, Markus had found it exceedingly difficult to use just enough power to induce a heart attack that would look natural. So, he gave up and resorted to brute force. With a touch, he could send enough electricity into someone's body to literally burn their heart into charcoal. It was crude but effective. At least on weaklings like the referee.

Markus and the others of the crew found some nice seats in a quick, but well, built stand to watch the final showdown between Luffy and Foxy. Once everything was ready, the announcer spoke up through a Den Den Mushi that amplified his voice for everyone to hear, "The two fighters of the final round are the corresponding captains! On the left, he's the returning champion with a record of 920 straight wins! He is the captain of the Foxy Pirates! Our boss, Foxy the Silver Fox!"

Cheers erupted from Foxy's crew along with cries of 'Boss!' as they rooted for their captain. The announcer let it go for a while before he continued, "On the right, the captain of the small but ferocious team of pirates with an amazing bounty of 75 million Belly! Known as the Straw Hat Kiddo... He is Monkey D. Luffy!"

Luffy was revealed and looked... Well, Markus didn't know how to describe it. He looked cool and at the same time looked like a moron. Luffy had donned a huge black afro wig and painted a bright blue flaming skull and crossbones on his chest. He'd also donned boxing gloves and elbow warmers while losing his standard flip-flops for some footwraps.

After giving everyone a few moments to view the fighters in all their... uh... glory? The announcer shouted, "Davy Back Fight, final round! BATTLE START!"