One Piece (Love Story) [Part One]

Chapter One Hundred and Sixty Eight [Rewritten]

-Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-Eight-

"Pull it together guys, really!" Usopp cried toward the two being mercilessly spun around.

"It looks like Pickles and Hamburg have finally recovered from their earlier accident!" Itomimizu announced as the two men from before reappeared—both looking like they were ready to get back to playing.

"Look, they're back in it!" someone in the crowd cheered.

"Slaughter them, guys!" another laughed.

"And what's this? It seems they've updated their wardrobe!" Itomimizu noted once he spotted the weapons the two now sported. "Hamburg is sporting some iron knuckles and elbow guards—where did those come from? Meanwhile, Pickles is sporting some iron spike shoulder protectors, those clearly violate the no weapons rule" he pointed out as the referee once again turned his head the other way. "But by complete coincidence, the referee seems to be doing some stretches right about now—oh well, you can't expect him to catch everything, right?" he whole-heartedly laughed.

"Oh come on!" I snapped.

"Time for revenge, my friend—you ready?" Pickles grinned, causing Hamburg to eagerly laugh in response. It wasn't long before Pan finally released the swordsman and cook and sent them flying straight toward the other two Groggy Monsters.

"World! Stop spinning!" Zoro grounded out through clenched teeth.

"Now, bring the pain!" Pickles laughed as he and Hamburg shot toward the two. "Spinning Tackle!" his started to spin as the monkey jumped on top of him before launching himself into the air.

"The Groggy Monsters spawn a counter-attack! But this time, their target isn't the Ball Man—but his partner, Zoro!" Itomimizu announced, causing me to tense up. "This is about to get ugly" he whistled.

"What?!" I gasped.

"Hamburg Hammer!" Hamburg roughly smashed his fist against Zoro—sending him crashing straight into the ground right away.

"No! Zoro!" Usopp worriedly cried.

"The assault isn't over yet!" Itomimizu announced as Pan jumped and sent Hamburg flying straight down toward the swordsman once more. "Big Pan's ready for another brutal attack!"

"W-wait..." I ignored whatever else the man had to say as I stared at the brutal scene before me in horror. Already could I feel a lump starting to form in my throat as it became harder to breathe...there was something almost malicious and personal about these attacks the longer they went on like the opposing team no longer thought about winning. Instead, all that mattered to them at the moment was causing the most damage.

"Oh no!" Nami gasped.

"This is bad..." Robin mumbled.

"Wait...please..." I shakily breathed as worry now seized my heart the longer I watched.

"The Straw Hats are about to learn the power of teamwork" Itomimizu chuckled, unbothered by his crewmates' cruelty. "Like an arrow raining from the sky" he sighed as Hamburg's iron guards slammed into the swordsman and crushing his stomach—I wanted to cry out in horror at the sight...yet all that came out was a choked sob. "A direct hit! He won't be walking that one off!" I trembled at the way the crowd cheered before harshly grabbing my hair and pulling as I started to scream in frustration once I realized there was very little I or any of the others could do.

"Skylar?" Nami mumbled as I violently shook my head, shaky sobs now slipping past my lips as I painfully yanked at my own hair, not liking this tightening feeling in my chest or the way my heart ached. Violence between pirates was nothing new—playing dirty between pirates wasn't anything new either...and yet, the unnecessary cruelty being displayed made my stomach churn and my eyes water. "H-hey, Skylar! Come on now, calm down!" the sudden feeling of gentle arms wrapping around me as my head was pressed flush against Nami's chest only made my crying worse.