The Voyage

Chapter 13

It was the first day of contests and the Shadow Pirate crew were excited. To kick off the Contests was the Best Bounty Photo Contest. A screen popped up in the center of the festival for all to see. "Best Bounty Photo of the Year, winning by a massive landslide, is first ever female pirate Scarlet Bri, also known as Sword Dance, a member of the Shadow Pirates." An announcer said through the speakers while Scarlet's bounty poster appeared on the screen, the photo blown up. Many men whistled at it. Others threw their drinks at the screen while calling out profanities. "Ignore them," Lux said to her. "You'll show them soon enough." Today she opted for pants since she would be fighting. Of course her brothers didn't approve when they saw her. She just stuck her tongue out at them and then went to get breakfast. Now Shadow Pirates stood with her brothers' crews. 

"First contest is the arm wrestling," Dio read out loud as he looked at the screen. "Then it's the sniper contest." Scarlet looked at Muris, "Good luck Muris." He nodded and began to make his way to where they were having the arm wrestling contest. Everyone looked at the screen eagerly, seeing the different pirates from the different crews lined up. Many were shirtless to show off their muscles, but Muris kept his shirt on. He knew the amount of muscles one had, didn't equate to the strength they had. Last years champ stood at the tall table, waiting for his opponents one by one. Many used their abilities to try and boost their strength, only a few managing to budge the winner from last year. 

"They're not going to break his armor," Chino, Tiger's first mate commented before blowing a puff of cigarette smoke out. "He's using his armor to keep his arm solid so it can't be moved. Some of the best armor I've seen." 

They watched Muris walk up to the table, he propped his arm up on the table, and his own armor covered his arm, turning it solid black. "Now it's an armor verses armor battle," Brian said. They went against each other for a while, both of them straining against the other. Sweat dripped down the sides of their faces as they tried to win.  The crowd gasped when both of their armors cracked. Murs' armor cracked around his wrist, while his opponent's armor cracked entirely around his forearm. When his opponent's armor cracked again, Muris was able to slam his hand on the table, winning the contest. 

Muris went back to his crew, his winnings tucked into his pocket. "Way to go Muris," Lux said, clapping him on the back. Lance gave him a bright smile, "Congrats Muris." He then made sure Muris didn't get injured. It had to have been a lot of force if it cracked his armor when a bullet can't even penetrate it, Lance thought. 

When it was time for the sniper contest, the snipers went to a large field on the island, cameras televising it like they did the arm wrestling. Everyone looked at the screen, looking at the various sized targets at different distances. "No way can your sniper, beat ours," A member of Romeo's crew said with a smirk. Romeo's crew was called Poison Arrow. Scarlet had to admit, her brother had many talented people on his crew, but she had faith in Pince.  "You may be surprised," Brian told him. "He's one hell of a shot." Scarlet and Lance bit back their laughs and comments. Brian glared at them, "Don't you dare tell that cook I was complimenting him." They pressed their lips, going back to looking at the screen. 

Each sniper was given three minutes to hit the various targets. Each target had a point value. The one with the most points at the end, wins. As they hit their targets, their points will appear on the screen for everyone to see. One by one, many impressive snipers stepped up to show off their skills. "After this is the duels, you ready," Dio asked Scarlet. She nodded, "I'm more than ready." She looked back at the screen and saw it was Romeo's turn. She shouldn't be surprised, she told herself. He always did have a fascination with shooting people with slingshots as a kid, so it was only natural for that to evolve to sniper rifles. 

Romeo racked up a staggering amount of points so easily. Had he been given just a few more seconds, he would have hit every target. Next up was Pince. He was calm and in his element. Shot after shot, he hit his target dead on. Unfortunately, time was not on his side when he fell one short of Romeo. Romeo gave him a smirk while Pince gave him a two finger salute, accepting his second place position. "So damn close," Dio muttered. "He beat a few of the Royal snipers, that's pretty impressive," Lance commented.  Scarlet nodded in agreement, "Yeah it is."