Chapter 202: Five Stages Of Grief: Denial, Anger, & Acceptance

Glancing at Hancock, Freyja, and Trenza, I couldn't help but click my tongue in annoyance as I appreciated their beauty; well, minus Trenza, the only thing I find attractive about her is her eyes. However, Freyja and Hancock, on the other hand, despite being a pair of publicly used toilets, they're, without a doubt, the two most beautiful and sexiest women I've ever laid eyes on.

'Yet, while Hancock is beautiful, Freyja literally embodies beauty itself. Tch, is it just me, or does she seem more beautiful than usual?' Thought Diddy with an annoyed expression as he gazed at Freyja, who was wearing a light pink dress with a fluffy, black scarf around her neck and hanging down her arms.

As much as I hadn't admitted it, Freyja was sexy; it even made me momentarily consider whether or not I should sleep with her; though it was only a split moment, such a thought instantly disappeared when memories of her doing it with numerous men flashed through my mind, causing me to growl in annoyance that I had even dared to rethink my decision.

"Judges, could you please give us your thoughts and ratings for our three contestants?" Asked Sandersonia in a slightly annoyed tone as she glanced at Freyja with a faint blush before turning around and looking at Marigold, Diddy, and Mony.

"I give Trenza a 2, F-Freyja, s-she gets a 1-10, and Sister a 9." Declared Marigold as she practically ignored Trenza before looking at Freyja while speaking through gritted teeth and blushed cheeks, only to finally glance at Hancock, who clenched her fist but remained stoic.

"I'll give Trenza a 3 since she's got three eyes, Freyja, tsk, she gets a 10, and Hancock gets a 9." Remarked Diddy as he looked at Trenza's three eyes, which glared at him in annoyance from the previous round before glancing at Freyja, clicking his tongue while she faintly smirked.

"And our last judge gives a 1 to Trenza, a 1-10 to Freyja, and a 9 to Sister. This brings the total points for this round to a reasonable 6 for Trenza, 3-3-30 for Freyja, a perfect score, and a 27 for Sister." Stated Sandersonia as she looked at Mony, who had contorted his body into numbers, before gesturing to Freyja, barely managing to utter her score.

"Fufu, it seems my win is in the bag." Said Freyja with a soft smile as she provokingly glanced at Hancock before turning around and approaching the curtains from behind, causing her to grit her teeth angrily while following behind her.

"How could you do that to me, Mony? A 1? This betrayal hurts." Stated Trenza with a slightly hurt expression as she glanced at Mony, who blinked his large, beady eyes a few times before leaning forward and gently rubbing her with his nose while hissing a few times.

"Haa, you're lucky you're so adorable, Mony; otherwise, I'd sick Captain on you." Added Trenza with a sigh as she gently stroked Mony, her words causing him and Pandy to tremble fearfully while she chuckled with a wicked smirk.

"Hmph, I'm not a fucking dog, Trenza; treat me like such again, and I'll toss your ass into the Calm Belt." Declared Diddy with an irritated grunt as he glared at Trenza, causing her to glance at him and rapidly nodd while Pandemonium sighed in relief.

"Hehe, don't believe everything Captain says; he's a tsundere." Said Trenza in a whisper as she spoke to Mony with a faint chuckle, only for her to suddenly get zapped with a bolt of lightning, causing her to spasm uncontrollably while falling to the ground.

"Heh, good advice, Trenza; I'm a pirate; of course, you shouldn't believe everything I say. I zapped you instead of tossing you out to sea." Remarked Diddy with a mocking smirk as he watched Trenza violently twitch about on the stage while Mony, like an intelligent snake, backed away lest he get targeted by Diddy next.

"Haa, I'll take her back." Muttered Sandersonia with a sigh of annoyance as she walked forward and picked up Trenza, only to constantly wince while heading towards the curtains.

Chuckling to myself, I folded my arms and closed my eyes while patiently waiting for the next round to commence; though because someone had relatively poor resistance to lightning, the intermission took twice as long as it should've been; however, eventually, after about eight or so minutes the next round started, yet, just like the previous one, Freyja ended up winning with a near perfect score while Hancock came second with just a couple of points behind, and Trenza, she never even hit double digits so who cares.

'She'd have actually had a competing chance if she were just three floating eyeballs.' Mused Diddy thoughtfully with a raised eyebrow as he looked at Trenza's eyes, which he'd been constantly drawn to for the past few days, finding it slightly difficult to look away.

For the next two hours, the beauty contest continued as several different rounds, each with different scenarios played out, yet it didn't matter which one it was, except for the first one, where Freyja was still using her ability to ignite lust in everyone and the second round, which was tailor-made for Trenza to win; Freyja won every single following round. I wouldn't call it a one-sided victory since Hancock was indeed giving her a challenging time, considering their scores were always within a range of five points, but it didn't matter since she never won.

Ever since the first round, where I had corrected Freyja's mistake and gave her advice, which I somewhat regret doing now, her beauty hadn't increased, but the way she portrayed it did, and her skills continued to increase through the contest until it got to the point where for the final ten rounds, all of her scores were perfect. It seems that not solely relying on her bewitching abilities granted to her by the succubus devil fruit to win the competition has led her to improve her natural skills massively.

'A part of me dreads how much stronger her bewitching abilities will become after this when she finally uses it, but a small, tiny part of me is eager to see it in action.' Thought Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Freyja in slight annoyance, only for his figure to suddenly vanish while leaving behind a trail of lightning.

Appearing between Freyja and Hancock, I covered my hand in haki, catching her foot that threatened to hit my Vice-captain, causing me to growl in slight anger.

"Tsk, I'm not fond of sneak attacks, Hancock." Stated Diddy with a feral expression as he furrowed his brows while looking at Hancock, who he was holding in the air, only to suddenly wrap his tail around a wrist that had attacked him from behind.

"Dammit; I was hoping you'd lowered your guard." Muttered Freyja in slight annoyance as she used her elongated nails to just barely scrap Diddy's golden fur while his tail kept her hand at bay.

Scoffing at her remark, I flung Hancock through the air before releasing Freyja's hand; I wasn't worried about her attacking me, and if she did, that was on her. Folding my arms, I looked at Hancock, who seemed absolutely livid and on the verge of madness, before glancing up at the night sky, the full moon still in effect.

"I don't know what's going through your mind, but you should think twice before attacking me, 'cause if you do, I'm inevitably going to let loose; I wouldn't want to kill such a strong opponent when transformed; that's no fun." Declared with a ferocious smile as he eyed Hancock, his golden brown fur taking on streaks of silver while lightning violently cackled around, slightly obscuring his figure.

"Yes, I'd advise not to attack him, though I understand your feelings; being told and believing you're the most beautiful for years only for someone superior to suddenly come and surpass you, I too would be pissed beyond belief." Said Freyja softly and kindly, only for her to slowly mock Hancock, causing her to gnash her teeth, yet just when she was about to lunge toward Freyja, two people intervened.

"Sister!!" Yelled Marigold and Sandersonia anxiously as they quickly ran in front of Hancock, blocking her path and causing her to stop.

"Y-You know about the power of a Mink when under a full moon; a-attacking him now would be foolish!" Stated Sandersonia as she quickly ran forward and held Hancock down with Marigold helping her.

Despite Hancock seemingly being corrupted by her own madness, she was still in control of her actions, and after she glanced at the moon before looking back at me, she stopped trying to attack Freyja, which was unfortunate since I had no intention of stopping her a second time. I only saved Freyja initially because I dislike sneak attacks, yet now that she knows, I hardly cared, though I would've stopped her if she tried killing Freyja; after all, I've been keeping her alive for a reason.

However, while watching Hancock, I saw tears suddenly stream down her face as she collapsed onto her knees and started crying, causing both Freyja and I to tilt our heads in confusion while looking at each other.

"Did you do something?" Asked Freyja and Diddy simultaneously, only for them both to shake their heads before shrugging their shoulders and looking back at the sobbing Hancock.

"I-I'm. I-I'm not t-the most B-BEAUTIFUL!" Declared Hancock between her sobs while glancing at Freyja, only to cry harder as she finally accepted the truth.