บท 251: Chief of Staff
The stunning upset at first silenced the audience before they erupted into cheers. They laughed and taunted the unconscious Bartolomeo who fell to such an "obvious" attack. The only thing that could make it better is if the one who felled him wasn't an unknown gladiator, but rather one of their favorite contenders.
"How very unexpected this is." Señor Pink said. "To think that the second spot in the finals would be won by the ex-king Riku."
Shocked silence once more reigned in the colosseum until the crowd erupted once again. This time it wasn't mere dislike they displayed, but outright hatred. If not for the menacing fighting fish in the moat between the stage and the stands, some of them might have directly invaded the arena in an attempt to kill the object of their hatred.
Ex-king Riku, aka Ricky, didn't flinch at the visceral reaction towards his win. He expected as much, but he was resolved to win the tournament at any cost. He needed to rescue his people from the evil clutches of Doflamingo and atone for his failure to protect them.
Rebecca in the waiting room grit her teeth and clenched her fists. She hadn't known her grandfather had been here as well, nor even that he was still alive.
She turned on her heel and stormed away, tears brimming in her eyes. She was certain of his innocence, but a small part of her wanted to blame him for everything. It would be so easier to do so, rather than take on the monumental task of opposing Doflamingo. Alas, the kind grandfather in her memories would not allow her to stray from the difficult path she had chosen.
Sanji followed after her. After all, could he even call himself a man if he did not do all that he could to comfort a crying girl? If he did not crush the ones who upset her beneath his mighty heel?
"Why do they hate this guy so much?" Luffy asked.
"The story goes that ten years ago he robbed the whole kingdom blind then turned around and started slaughtering the people with his army." Cavendish explained somberly. "That was also the night Doflamingo took over the country, after he stopped the slaughter."
"Probably some plot cooked up by Doflamingo. It sounds a bit too unnatural and convenient to be true. Maybe he can marionette people with his strings? He definitely has the range for something like that, given he can reach the clouds with them." Cherry suggested.
Luffy looked angry at the idea that Doflamingo might have literally stolen the freedom to move ones' own body from people.
"That's an unsettling thought, but doesn't that seem a bit too far-fetched as well?" Cavendish said.
"Paramecia devil fruits are strange like that. There are always unusual applications with those if the user gets creative." Cherry said.
"The same will be true of the drill fruit I suppose. Personally I was merely drawn to the idea of defying the heavens, which is perfectly aligned with my aesthetic." Cavendish said, not realizing that nobody was paying attention to him any longer.
"Let's get Block C going already." Señor Pink said boredly.
Luffy went to join the other fighters for Block C along with Chinjao and his two grandsons. Chinjao looked at Luffy with a complex expression, as it was his Grandfather that had ruined his pointed skull and thus kept his treasure away from him for over two decades. On the other hand, Cherry had been the one to fix his head as good as new and she was a member of Luffy's crew. Then again, she hadn't been a member of Luffy's crew at the time, so should that really count?
He made a decision then on how to handle this complicated grudge of his that he believed would resolve the situation.
Sai and Boo saw the subtle shift in their grandfather's expression and sighed in exasperation. They really wish they didn't have to put up with this stubborn old man's antics, at least not in the middle of important work like now.
Cherry, meanwhile, had caught the presence of a familiar figure lurking around the colosseum. Slipping away for the moment, she went to sneak up on the sneaking Sabo.
Sabo was quite confident in his capabilities and trusted his senses, so he suspected nothing even as Cherry dropped from the ceiling on top of him, trapping him into a suffocating headlock.
"How careless of you, Chief of Staff of the Revolutionary Army Sabo, to waltz right into such an obvious trap and leave your back unguarded." A chilling voice filled with killing intent entered Sabo's ear.
Sabo's hand lurched up in the shape of a dragon's claw, attempting to gouge out flesh from the offending arm. A mixture of Tekkai and dense armament haki blocked the attack with minimal harm.
Using the same hand, Sabo tapped the arm gently as he started to feel a bit lightheaded. The arms released him, allowing him to breathe freely once again.
"Did you have to be so rough, I'm on the job you know?" Sabo said, rubbing his neck with a smile.
"How else will you learn? I didn't even hide on the ceiling, you just needed to look up. You should also make a habit of keeping your lungs half filled with air lest someone choke you when you've let out your breath, just like I did just now." Cherry said amusedly.
"Who would even go to that much trouble?" Sabo complained, though he inwardly made a mental note.
"Some assassins are so good they only accept a price the world government is rarely willing to pay. The bigger your little movement gets, the more likely it becomes that you'll run into one such person." Cherry warned cryptically.
"I'll keep that in mind." Sabo said, not sure how serious she was about that.
"What are you doing here, anyways? You've probably picked the best and the worst time to show up in the Dressrosa, as I'm 90% sure that everything is going to go to shit today." Cherry asked.
"That's the ideal time for us to get involved. I only came to investigate black market weapons trading, but it sounds like I got lucky and I'll see some action." Sabo said. "Why are you here?"
"Probably about to start a war with Doflamingo. We're playing gladiator to pass the time until the shit hits the fan. I've got dibs on the devil fruit, by the way, I saw it first!" Cherry said.
"Why don't you just steal it? It might not even be nearby, so you might just be wasting your time for no reason." Sabo suggested.
"It's nearby, I know that much. And steal it? What would be the fun in that?" Cherry asked rhetorically.
"They aren't likely to hand it over fair and square when you win." Sabo said reasonably.
"They've currently got it strapped to a fighting fish, so I'll be able to nab it immediately when they bring it into the arena. I suppose they think they're strong enough to play keep away with us." Cherry said mockingly.
"Well, I need to get back to searching. They're moving the weapons somewhere around here, I can feel it." Sabo said.
"It'll be under the colosseum. There might be a secret passageway down there, but Zoro got dropped through a trapdoor in the medical room if you want a sure shot down there." Cherry said casually, as if she didn't just reveal that one of her friends had been captured by the enemy.
"Should you be concerned about him, then?" Sabo asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I warned him to be careful, so he ought to have his swords with him at least. He'll be fine." Cherry waved off his concerns.
They heard footsteps and Sabo whisked himself away, whispering that he'd talk to her again later some time.
Sanji and Rebecca came around the corner after a few moments, with the former looking ready to go to war. Rebecca kept glancing at him oddly, as if she couldn't make up her mind about whether he was reliable or a weirdo. Both were true, but she didn't know that.
*BOOM*
"Hurry up you two! We'll miss Lucy's fight with Chinjao! It's sure to be interesting!" Cherry called out to them and they picked up the pace.
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