The Winner Pirates; Chapter 2; The battle in the legendary square (Open to The Winner Pirates)

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Francis smiled while looking at a scaffold. The scaffold was standing inside a big square, a square which was full of people. "That was a sight to see! I have traveled across East Blue for years with my former crew, but I never got to see the legendary scaffold where the pirate king was executed!!!".

That was right. The crew was in Loguetown. After leaving from the island of their meeting and after defeating Victor Groose with the help of three bounty hunters and a former marine, the Winner Pirates had already traveled at Loguetown and made a stop, so that they could see the execution ground of the pirate king, get some supplies and head towards the Grand Line. The two men were already done with getting the supplies back at their ship and they were just taking a stroll at the town, before they could get on their job and travel towards their next destination, the grand line.

"So... What do you say, Swig? Do you like the scaffold?" Francis was more than excited at the view of the big scaffold, so excited that it was obvious for everybody around him to realize that he was a pirate. Well, it was not like the two men were not suspicious already. After all, Swig was a really scary guy due to the way he dressed and looked...

Swig's attitude towards the scaffold put Francis' excitement in a somewhat ironic light. Truth be told, he wasn't half as excited about the scaffold as he was about anything else around him. Being the living fossil that he was, Swig's former days of piracy started and ended outside of Gol D. Roger's shadow. He was roaming the seas before Roger's rise to fame and was behind bars well before his execution. He of course knew who the man was from stories and newspapers brought into the prison by new inmates, but unlike the pirates of the golden age who were all inspired by Roger by some level, Swig was there before it was cool.

"It's history. If I got excited from every bit of history I saw I would have died form a stroke every time I glanced in a mirror" Swig answered truthfully. "If you ask me, cyborgs are way more exciting than an old scaffold! Let's go find one of those!" Swig added. Cyborgs were the pinnacle of modern technology, and naturally sparked Swig's interest many times before.

[OOC: That thing with the cyborg could be a running gag in the threads xD]

"You old coot! I'm your captain, you should agree! It's the scaffold where the Pirate King was executed and it's awesome!!!" Francis eyes sparkled out of the excitement he was having at the view of that legendary structure. Although that thing was a mere structure that was built by a human's hand, it carried the last words of the Pirate King and along with that, it also carried the whole ending of a legendary adventure that inspired so many men to set sail at the seas and become what they became. Pirates from all over the world travelled across the seas, some of them conquering them, some of them returning from them after a while and some of them dying at them. That building was the place where it all began...

"Pfffffffft!" Francis turned his head at Swig and made a face of dislike, mostly because of his ignorance. Of course, Francis could understand why Swig could not see what he saw at that structure. He had lived things long before the Pirate King was born and he had lived adventures long before the idea of such a man even existed. It was natural for Swig to not really appreciate pieces of history like these, especially as he lived them from behind the bars. But, although he could understand, Francis expected him to at least show some respect to that man... However, that was when an idea came through his mind...

"Hm..." Francis looked at Swig and took a serious look on his face. "I was a little bit harsh on him... I guess I should try something else next time. Maybe I can motivate him to like what we meet as we travel together. After all, he is the first one to join me and help me. He is my friend now." he thought to himself.

"Listen here ya scrub! Lose the diapers before you lecture me!" Swig answered with the same attitude. "Pirate King my fossil-a$$, I bet I can match any of that Roger's tales with a better one of my own! Have I told you about the time we stole the Moustached Pirates' pet walrus just by having Jenny the Gem seduce their hormones-for-brains first mate? Or the time Giant Sarah carried our entire crew to the nearest island when our ship was sunk by seakings while fighting them off with one hand? or the time me and Giovanni the Pierced DROWNED A FISHMAN?!" He lectured, raising fingers as he counted tale after tale of his pirate carrier. "Did your fancy 'pirate king' have any stories like those?" He asked sarcastically, air quoting Roger's title with his fingers.

Swig then sighed and lowered his shoulders. He had a lot of fond memories of his former crew, and he was now about to start a whole new tale with a new crew, if him and Francis could actually be called a crew. "Anyway, have any plans for our next destination now that we actually have a ship?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Nope... He actually didn't. I don't know a lot about the Pirate King. I just know that he managed to gain the title... The whole world knows him... And while I can't be sure that he managed to achieve extraordinary achievements like your crewmembers did, I know that he is known while Gargantuan Sarah and Giovanni the Scarred aren't really known at all. Sorry." Francis spoke to Swig, with words that would most likely offend him, as Swig kept his former crew in high regard. But, before Swig could reply to any of these, Francis continued speaking with a smile on his face. "However, I will make sure that even if those people aren't really known to the rest of the world, me and you will carry on their legacy and spread their name to the world, just like we are going to do with ours. We are going to live a greater adventure than that of the Pirate King, like the Winners we are!" Francis spoke with a smile on his face, before he proceeded to reply to Swig's question. "Well, I want us to move on now that we got our supplies and watched the scaffold... But the problem is that we are only two. We need some more people with us." he replied and he sighed before looking around and yelling. "Hey! Is anybody interested in joining my pirate crew?!" he yelled, only to be ignored by the people around.

Swig sighed and slouched again, rubbing the back of his neck with his right hand as he did. "Pfft, yeah, let's recruit random lunatics in the street like all past pirate legends did..." He commented sarcastically with a chuckle. Swig failed to decide if Francis was dumb or just extremely naive, but he was definitely one of the two. It wasn't something Swig haven't seen before, but it sure was a refreshing attitude that he did not get to see inside his prison very often. In fact, it might have been a whole 100 years since Swig met someone who was as optimistic and at the same time sane as Francis.

"Seriously though, do you really believe that you'll find the guys that will help you achieve your dreams by randomly calling to them in a small East Blue town? I mean, if it was ANYWHERE near the Grand Line, I could start to understand, but it's the EAST BLUE, probably the calmest of them all. I bet the only traces of piracy on this island are us and that scaffold..."

"Erm, yo!" a guy appeared at the place. The guy was a man who was smoking a cigarette and he had a somewhat emotionless look on his face, most likely because he was bored. He had white colored hair and he wore a black colored coat above a black colored shirt. His pants were grey colored and he also wore black colored boots. Finally, he had fingerless gloves around his hands, completing his appearance. "I heard that you are a captain, aren't you?" the guy asked the captain of the Winner Pirates.

Behind him there was an old man with a white colored ponytail, with the ponytail being the only hair he had on his head, probably because of the old of his age. He wore a red colored robe and he had a very wrinkled face, making himself look a little bit creepy. Finally, he lacked teeth, something logical considering how old he looked. He slowly walked with a cane he carried. "Hey, Hyman... Stop. Don't speak to strangers!" the old man yelled at the young man who approached the crew.

"Yes, I'm a captain! I'm Francis Makyte, the greatest Winner of all blues!" Francis boasted about himself with a wide smile on his face.

"Huh? I never heard of you." Hyman replied.

"What?" Francis looked at him. "Weird." he showed surprise, as if he was some kind of a legendary pirate who wasn't really known.

"Excuse my captain." the old man spoke to Swig. "He likes meeting people. I can't stop him. Actually, I can't run and stop him, coming to think about it." he said while coughing badly.

"Shan Yang, you mummy! Why are you making yourself look like a soon-to-die old bastard?" the old man's captain referred to him.

"It's because I am... I feel... Dizzy. I... am... having a... stroke..." the old man fainted in front of Hyman, only for Hyman to ignore him.

"He exaggerates things. He is going to wake up in a few moments. Anyway... My name is Hyman and I am the captain of the Two-Sided Adventurers!" the man introduced himself to the crew.

Who was the man and what did he want?

Swig stared blankly at the situation that unfolded in front of him. He didn't know what to make of all this. "T.. tell me about it...? Kehehehe" He answered awkwardly as Shan Yang, who seemed to be twice as old as Swig but was probably barely half his age ranted, only to see him collapse a second later with his captain ignoring him completely. Returning his blank stare to Hyman, he rubbed the back of his neck once again. "Like I said Francis, only us and that scaffold... Kehehehe" He mumbled and forced an awkward laugh.

"Ha? Am I alive?" Shan Yang got up from the ground and he looked perfectly fine. "Well, it looks like it was a false alert, after all..." he commented, before he turned to Swig to continue what he was saying. "My captain, Hyman, is quite social, even if he looks like he wants to commit suicide out of boredom." Shan Yang procceeded to explain the reasons Hyman was there.

"Hey, Shan Yang, enough. You know it's not that." Hyman explained before he grabbed a flintlock from his pockets and gave it to Francis. Francis looked at the weapon and observed it, wondering what it actually was.

"What is this?" he asked, surprised.

"It's a flintlock. I'm using it to challenge people to Davy Back Fights. Those who accept shoot with the weapon."

"Like this?" Francis raised the gun upwards and shot, making a loud sound that echoed across the square.

"Yeap." Hyman nodded.

"Oh shit, not again! Hyman, we already lost all our members to the Davy Back Fight!" Shan Yang complained at the considerably younger than him captain. "I am your last member! If we lose again, the crew is going to disband!"

"Don't worry, Shan Yang. I'm doing this to absorb them in the crew! Or at least one of the two." Hyman laughed.

"Absorb them into the crew? Swig, what are they talking about? What is the Davy Back Fight?" Francis asked, as he didn't really know what the two men were chatting.

The sound of gun fire was immediately followed by the sound of Swig's forehead being slapped by his own palm. He couldn't believe he was willingly following Francis' leadership at that point. 'The hell is he thinking...? A Davy Back Fight with only 2 people? And besides, what do we even have to gain from it? What do these 'Adventurers' have to offer?' Swig thought while his forehead continued throbbing. However, nothing could prepare him for the shock he was dealt when it turned out Francis didn't even understand what he just did.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" Swig roared as he released another slap, this time aimed at his captain's head, his face turning read and his feet stomping the ground with anger. "You carry us all the way here to see some supposedly meaningful pirate monument yet you don't even know one of the most sacred traditions of piracy?!" He yelled, flailing his arms around as he did. "A Davy Back Fight is an honor-bound competition between two pirate crews split into several events, and the winner of each event gets to take a crew member from the losing crew and add him to his own" Swig explained, steam still coming out of his ears and nose. "AND YOU GO AHEAD AND JUST FIRE A STUPID FLINTLOCK WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING WHY! If you lose, they could assimilate you into their crew and your dream of being a pirate captain will be done for!" Swig added, simplifying what's at stake for his airhead captain.

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Francis yelled out after getting slapped by his subordinate with great force, falling on the ground of the square and after listening to what Swig had to say. Then, after listening to Swig's explanation, he got up from the ground and looked at the old man, trying to calm him down. "Don't worry, Swig." he closed his right eye, trying to convince Swig that he already had a plan, so that he could calm him down. "I got a plan for this." he said before he turned his head at Hyman. "You tricked me!!! The fight is cancelled!" he said. Obviously, Francis' plan was to actually try and convince Hyman to cancel the fight.

"Young one... You don't understand, it seems. The Davy Back Fight is a sacred tradition of piracy, just like your friend told you... You can't just cancel it. It's an insult for piracy. Only a disgrace of a pirate would run away from it. Once the flintlock has been shot, there is nothing you can do other than winning the fight." Shan Yang explained a few things to the captain of the Winner Pirates.

"Hahaha! You are an idiot." Hyman laughed at Francis.

"Screw you! I won't lose the fight!" Francis said. "I am a Winner, after all." Francis said.

"We will see about that." Hyman kept laughing at Francis.

"So... How are we supposed to win, Swig? What do we have to fight for in this fight? Do we have to kick some ass like we did with Victor?" Francis turned towards his subordinate, seeking more information about the fight the two men just got into, as Swig was the more experienced pirate and actually knew things about the fight.

'A plan...' Swig repeated in his head while slapping his forehead again. It was more than obvious that Francis either didn't have a plan or did not know what the word 'plan' meant. Either way, Swig and Francis now had a Davy Back Fight on their hands and their opponents seemed to be an exact mirror of the Winner pirates. Hyman definitely had the same twisted understanding of the concept of a plan that Francis had, And Shan... well he was old. Keeping that in mind, Swig and Francis probably had a decent shot at this match, though not much to gain from winning it.

"Well, usually it's up for the challenging captain to decide which events will be played" Swig replied. He then looked Hyman. "Pick a good one, we might as well make some fun out of this thing" He said, an honest smile on his face. Even though the circumstances weren't ideal, it's been years since Swig played in a Davy Back Fight. Even if he and Francis lost, he'll probably live to see Hyman's crew disband as well.

"Hm... I see..." Francis scratched his afro, while thinking of a good game the two teams could play.

"Keep in mind that the fight is consisted of 3 matches... The two first ones are decided by the two captains and the third one is the decisive battle of the two captains. The one who wins a fight, also steals something from each other's crew... Meaning that if you lose the first game, you will have to give away something to us." Shan Yang kept explaining so that Francis would have a better understanding of the game.

"So... If I lose the first game, I might lose Swig, as well?" Francis wondered.

"Exactly. Or maybe your crew's flag."

"What? Not my flag!" Francis seemed really worried, ignoring the fact that he could lose Swig to the game.

"Anyway..." Hyman decided to start the fight. "Considering that we are not at the sea to start the Donut Race, I will give you the right to decide what kind of game we shall play first." he said.

"Hm? That's great." Francis thought. "Okay... I thought of something.".

"Hm? What is it?" Hyman wondered.

"The one who reaches the top of the scaffold, wins." Francis had a wide smile on his face.

"That sounds fair, I guess. And who is going to play from you?" Hyman asked.

"What's the best way to win if you don't start with your main winner? I'm going to start!" Francis smiled with a confident face as if he really knew this time what he had to do.

"Again with that scaffold, sheesh" Swig complained, ignoring Francis' ignorance of the fact that he could lose his crew and not just his Jolly Roger in this game. He had no idea if Francis was fast or not, but at this point Swig learned that eve if Francis seems to have a plan - he doesn't, leading him to the conclusion that he was just obsessed with the scaffold. "We should see who can burn that thing first. Now THAT's a game for ya! KAKAKAKAKAKAKA" he joked, swiping a tear from under his eye, "'Burn', I slay me..." he murmured.

Swig looked around. The rules of Davy Back Fighting didn't stop crew members from helping their nakama in their contests, but Swig couldn't really help Francis with speed. Assuming Shan will also sit this one out, Swig figured he might as well find something fun for them to do while their airhead captains ran about. "So, Shan is it? How'd you fancy having a drink while the toddlers run around?" He asked the old adventurer.

"Huh? You are joking." Shan Yang replied to Swig. "There is no way I am going to let the brat climb up the scaffold." he said, probably making a joke. The old man could barely move, yet he claimed he was capable of reaching the top of the scaffold first.

"Yeap, that's right old man." Hyman talked to Swig. "Shan Yang is going to play the game. It looks like you are going to babysit me." he joked over the comment Swig made about him and Francis being toddlers.

"Hey, that's unfair. I am going to win this fairly easily." Francis complained. He didn't want an unfair battle. "How fast can that guy move? I mean... He looks older than Swig!".

"Don't look down on me, kid. Despite being 108 years old, I can do things you can't imagine." Shan Yang warned the captain of the Winner Pirates.

"Whatever... You two, begin some time!" Hyman yelled at his subordinate and at Francis.

"Fine..." the two men agreed. The Davy Back Fight had just started and the two men were taking their positions!

Francis and Shan Yang looked at each other with a smile on their faces. As he was the one to decide what they were about to do, Francis had already devised a plan to win the game. He was more than confident. He was prepared to reach the scaffold in little to no time and impress everybody around, while winning the game and getting a new subordinate for the Winner Pirates.

On the other hand, Shan Yang also looked confident. Despite the old of his age, he made a few comments that made it clear that he wouldn't be an easy match for the captain of the Winner Pirates. Although he could barely move from what it seemed, the old man warned Francis to not underestimate him because if he did so, he would most likely lose the game.

"Hm... He seems way too sure... What does he have in his mind? And why did Hyman trust him with the game?" Francis wondered. "Maybe it's a trick... They want me to overthink about it and slow my movements down, trying to figure out what they are up to... I won't fall for that trick, though. No, wait Francis... What if he is really good, after all?" he kept wondering, before he started speaking out loud what he was thinking. "Swig also looks like an old pile of shit, but he's also really strong... I must be careful!" he finished thinking before he performed a high jump and he started manipulating his hair. "Afro Brawl: Hairycopter!" he started used his fighting style to manipulate his hair like an helix from a helicopter and he slowly took off, increasing his speed as the time went by, flying towards the scaffold.

"HUH?!" Hyman jawdropped at the view of the technique the captain of the Winner Pirates used.

"Oh shit, that was unexpected!" Shan Yang commented, but he was having a calm look on his face.

"Hm?" Francis looked at him, seeing how calm the old man was. "Why is he calm?" he gulped while moving towards the scaffold, being only a few meters and a few seconds away from the destination.

"Oh my... I should be going. I must not give him a false hope." Shan Yang said while looking at the scaffold. "CENTURY LEAP!!!" he performed a swift and very high jump despite the old of his age, instantly jumping at the top of the structure with little to no effort, mere seconds before Francis reached the top.

"It looks like we have a winner." Hyman spoke out loud.

"WHAT?!" Francis froze while on the air and stopped using the technique, falling down on the ground. "SHIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!"

Francis lost the round!

"Well I'll be damned..." Swig mumbled as Shan stepped to the starting line. '108... I wonder' He wondered. quick math showed that Shan should have been about 8 when Swig was jailed, probably not a pirate at that time, but Swig couldn't help but wonder if he knew or remembered his old crew. Either way, Swig didn't have much time to wonder as the race not only started but was also finished in seconds. Francis' trick was impressive, but Shan's speed simply made Swig's jaw drop. "Be damned for sure..." he mumbled again. "Now that's a real pirate generation for ya! None of that pirate king glorification, only skill!" Swig called with joy as a man around his age swiped the floor with the younger generation. However, the realization struck him a second later, "Oh, that means we lost huh?".

The Winner Pirates lost their first match, and it was now obvious that Hyman and Shan had some tricks up their sleeves. Now that they won, they had the right to choose to either take Swig, Francis or their Jolly Roger away. If they chose Francis, it meant that Swig will need to win him back in the next event so he could compete in the traditional captain's fight in the last round. If they chose Swig, this whole mess would fall onto Francis.

"CRAAAAAAAAAAAP!!!" Francis yelled, his voice echoing in the whole square. The young captain had just got himself into a bad situation and thus he was now going to give away Swig, himself or his Jolly Roger. And that was really unfair considering that his adventure as a pirate had just started. He had finally found a person who was willing to travel with him and because of his ignorance over the Davy Back Fight, he was now risking having his crew completely destroyed.

"Hey, Hyman, I think you know who you must choose." Shan Yang yelled from the scaffold, referring to his captain.

"Of course I do, I choose Francis!" he spoke.

"REALLY?! YOU SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN SWIG, NOT THE IDIOT!!!" Shan Yang raised his voice at Hyman while casually jumping below the scaffold with another high jump, landing on his feet right in front of his captain and Swig.

"Francis, you idiot, you lost yourself. Hahahahaha!!!" Hyman laughed at Francis. It was obvious that he chose him just because he wanted to troll him.

"Swig, help me!!!" Francis cried out to Swig.

"He won't really help... It's our turn to decide the match and I have something into my mind..." Shan Yang smirked while looking at Swig.

"Huh?" Hyman looked at him, wondering what he was up to.

"I heard a comment about seeing who should burning that thing first..." Shan Yang had a very wide smile onto his face.

"You... You don't say..." Francis gulped.

"The first one to destroy the scaffold, wins!" Shan Yang said with a cheerful voice while announcing the second game of the match. Now, that was something exciting for Swig.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" Francis screamed in agony.

"Crap. And I loved that scaffold." Hyman commented.

The second game had just been decided!!!

---

Meanwhile, in the marine basement on the island...

A marine runs into the office of another marine. The first marine, wearing a standard marine uniform, was there to inform his superior about something. While closing the door, the only thing that could be seen from the outside was the door and the small little board that contained the information about who the office belonged to: "Jinjen Jinden, Ensign of the Marine HQ".

"Ensign Jinden!"

"Hello, Dexio." he referred to the marine. The Ensign knew his subordinate. "Would you like some wine?" Jinjen was drinking a bottle of wine, although the wine was almost finished.

"The pirates we gave away the information about the bounties last week.... Are here!" Dexio reported.

"Oh crap... Why now?" Jinjen yawned. "I am bored... And I am tired. I want to sleep." Jinden commented.

"I am sorry sir but we saw them right now. They are up to something at the square! There is already a troop there but we are waiting for your orders to begin moving. They are waiting for you."

"Chk, fine..." Jinden sighed before getting up from his chair, walking away from the office.

"Oh... And I forgot to mention... There is also that guy..."

"Huh?" Jinjen started running instead of walking.

A marine was on the move!

"Ah... again with that scaffold... at least it'll be the last time! KAKAKAKAKKAA" Swig laughed, cracking his neck. He wasn't so surprised Francis was picked instead of him. Either way, The adventurers had to play another game against the Winner Pirates, and the logical choice would be to play it against an old timer instead of a young one. However, Swig was also not surprised to find out that Hyman had no complicated plan behind his choice. He had no more expectations from the people that surrounded him at that moment. They were all pretty stupid.

"So I guess you're the one to beat huh?" Swig said, pointing at Hyman. Swig assumed a position along side Hyman, looking at the scaffold. Taking it apart shouldn't be a problem for Swig, though it'll probably raise some hell around the area as it seemed to be a pretty important part of the island's view. No matter, Swig hated the damned thing. 'I wonder if this kid has a trick up his sleeve like Shan did...' He wondered, glancing over his shoulder towards Hyman. 'No matter, I also have some tricks up my own sleeves... KAKAKAKKAA!' He concluded, cracking his neck one more time. "Ready when you are boy"

"Crap! Don't you ever dare to destroy the scaffold, Swig!!!" Francis yelled at his former subordinate.

"Hey, you can't order him what to do. He is the last representative of the crew in the Davy Back Fight and you now are a member of the Two Sided Adventurers!" Shan Yang commented, only for Francis to sigh.

"Hm... Take down that scaffold, huh?" Hyman questioned himself. "That's easy." he grabbed a shotgun he was hiding below his coat, aiming at the scaffold. "As a sniper, there is no need to run and destroy the structure. I can do it from here, as well." he aimed at the scaffold from a fair distance, before pulling the trigger and shooting.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" the people who were around screamed as they listened to the loud sound of the shot that echoed across the large square.

"Right on target!" Hyman hit one of the legs that allowed the scaffold to stand, making it crumble a little bit, although not much. "With four more shots, I believe it will be down." he smiled, while aiming for another leg, prepared to shoot.

"This town is dull."

Walking around the town, unmotivated and sloppy movements, the black haired male was clearly bored out of his mind. People were looking oddly at him, and of course no one could blame them, with such a bizarre walking, coupled with the male's occasional groan of annoyance and weird commentary, they'd probably dismiss him as the town's lunatic, if it wasn't for the fact that two blades were visibly resting on his side. Better not mess with a weirdo that is armed.

"So this is the town where that guy was executed .. would really expect it to be a tad more ... thrilling? Man, as if that weird ass stalked at that deserted island wasn't enough of a downer, now I had to find myself into such a mundane pla-..."

His train of thought, which unfortunately for most citizens was actually talked out loud, was interrupted, along with said citizen's attention towards him, by the sound of a gunshot, not too far away from where they were. "That sounded like it came from the scaffold." a middle-aged chubby woman on a green dress mutters.

A smile forms in his face. "Oh?" and then, the male turns and begins to run towards the direction of the sound's source. "That may actually be mildly entertaining!" he speaks to himself, joyfully.

-Shadow Azuke, pirate / bounty hunter.

"A Sniper? You guys are no fun" Swig muttered after seeing Hyman's trick. "I've seen snipers already, how about something new instead?" He continued to complain. He of course wasn't lying. Swig was shot with enough bullets in his life time to know that he didn't fear them one bit, meaning that his course of action was now pretty obvious to him. He sighed and stretched his arms to both sides, allowing himself to take the contest lightly despite his newly found crew was on the brink of disbanding.

Then, without even the slightest hesitation, Swig began a slow and lazy march towards the scaffold, entering Hyman's direct line of sight with his back turned towards his opponent. Seeing the lunatic who paid no attention to the firearm at the scene, the surrounding crowd gasped. "Somebody stop this old man! He's hallucinating!" A woman called, but no one would risk their lives for an insane old man they didn't know.

"Sorry about that Francis, but a Davy Back Fight's a Davy Back Fight, our own reputation will be at stake if we back off now". He apologized to his captain as he walked. "Look on the bright side though, once we win this thing, you'll have plenty of time to punish Shan for choosing this challenge once he'll be a crew member! KAKAKAKAKAKAKA!" He joked, his back still turned to the shotgun that was aimed at him.

"Hey, are you nuts?!" Francis yelled at Swig. "Don't destroy the scaffold! Not the scaffold! You, too, Hyman!!!" Francis wanted to defend the legendary structure, marching in front of Hyman, blocking his vision.

"Get back here, Francis!" Shan Yang yelled at his new comrade.

"No way... If he wants to be my captain he has to go with whatever I want!"

"That's way too spoiled!" Hyman jumped and shot once more, striking one more leg of the scaffold making the structure tremble even more than it used to.

"Shit!!!" Francis turned his head, looking at the wooden structure, not long before he was kicked to the ground by Shan Yang so that he would not interfere again.

"That's enough, Francis!" Shan Yang yelled at the former captain of the Winner Pirates.

"Crap!" a tear fell from Francis' eye as he realized that there was nothing he could do to stop the game. "Swig, win the game and get me back to the crew!!!" he screamed in agony as he wasn't very pleased with the way Shan Yang acted to stop him.

"Phh..." Swig hissed back at his captain as Hyman's next shot flew past him. He positioned himself right below the slowly tilting scaffold and turned around to reface Francis and his two new crew members with an expression of disgust. He exhaled slowly, lowering his gaze to the ground. Seeing the scaffold reduce Francis to a pirate who can't respect the rules of a Davy Back Fight made Swig want to do something he haven't done in a while: go all out on it.

((OOC: Queue Swig's battle theme ))

"HYBRID POINT!!!" He roared, right before his abdomen seemed to explode from under his robe. The ground underneath him cracked as Swig's weight increased ten-fold in an instant. His robe, ears, teeth and white mane of hair all disappeared, his skin turned dark green and was covered with reptilian scales. A gigantic turtle shell surrounded his entire abdomen, completing his transformation into what could only be described as a monster.

Swig's yellow reptilian gaze rose to face Francis once again. "Why would you allow such an insignificant shard of history to reduce you into an honor-less excuse for a pirate?! This is a damned Davy Back Fight! RESPECT IT BOY!!" Swig roared, his voice matching his new look in monstrosity. He then looked at the scaffold above him, his head bumping into its bearings as he did. In an instant, Swig's kegs disappeared into his abdomen, releasing another small quake as his shell dove to the ground. "Green Takeoff!" He roared, shooting his legs back from within his shell and launching his 700 kilograms self up and through the scaffold with enough force to reduce it into nothing but rubble while sending another wave of quakes through the ground. "This Feels GREAT! KAKAKAKAKKA!!" He released a monstrous laugh. It's been ages since he assumed this form and the feeling of sheer power was intoxicating.

"OH SHIT!!!" Francis' eyes popped out. "THAT WAS AWESOME YOU OLD COOT BUT YOU RUINED THE SCAFFOLD!!!!!" the captain of the Winner Pirates started crying despite the fact that his subordinate actually managed to win the game, giving himself the chance to pick Francis back to the crew and ultimately lead to the third round of the Davy Back Fight. In an exhibition of the many great abilities he possessed, Swig managed to easily take down the legendary structure with a single hit, making Francis happy and angry at the same time, but also making him wonder how strong the old man was and why would he follow a man like him. However, the second thought wouldn't be expressed by Francis as he didn't really want to offend Swig with his stupid question and also make him realize that Francis also believed himself to be inferior compared to the turtle-human hybrid.

"That technique... I think I have seen that before..." Shan Yang scratched his head, wondering where he had seen that technique before. It was unnatural for somebody to actually know about that technique, however considering the old of his age, Shan Yang could have heard stories about Swig during his time with the Blazing Pirates...

"Wow... He won... And really easily." Hyman was shocked, with his cigarette dropping from his mouth as his body froze completely out of shock.

"So... Who do you get to pick?" Shan Yang asked. "Your captain, me or Hyman?"

---

Meanwhile, Jinjen and Dexio were running along with their unit until they received a call...

"Answer it, Dexio!" Jinjen was running towards the square.

"Hello? It's Lieutenant Commander Dexio Right here..."

"Sir! I'm afraid I have something bad to report..."

"What?"

"The scaffold... It was destroyed by Tenma A. Swig!"

"WHAT?!" Jinjen's eyes twitched and he disappeared from the unit a few seconds later.

The Ensign was on the move for good!

"Whoah, holy crap, that was quite interesting. An ability user?" Shadow remarks, clinging against a rooftop. Now, how did he managed to get atop there was a mystery, unlike the fact that he ended up not getting closer to the event area at all; he was always terrible at approaching something.

*I will climb atop that building and then run across them all to get a better view!* Was his idea, but, while doing this, he ended up jumping too high up, and found himself seemingly stuck there. What a pitiful sight.

Despite it looking like he was just a sorry excuse of an adventurer, the male didn't seemed to be bothered at all; almost as if there was no issue to begin with. "Wanna see if I can cut that person! And what is that other ... is he crying?" He exhales in annoyance, making a (goofy) irritated face. "What a loser."