Back on the blue sea, the crew was now sailing towards their next destination. Right now they were in the quarterdeck enjoying lunch when they started talking about the repartition of the gold and what they were going to do with it. The state of the Merry was worrying, with its mast breaking easily now. Everyone agreed that it was the top priority and surprisingly Luffy had his once in a lifetime idea.

 

“Ok, I’ve decided. Our next crew member will be a ship-repairman. That way when Merry gets damaged he would fix it immediately and we won’t have to find an island to do it.” announced the captain.

 

Everyone was gobsmacked, that was a smart idea coming for their stupid captain.

 

“Did he just…” asked Sanji.

“Yeah he did say these intelligent things.” answered Zoro.

 

With lunch over and the discussion about the gold done, the crew members went to do their own things. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper played a game, Zoro slept, Nami and Robin were talking about something and Sanji was doing… Sanji’s thing. Rick was near the figurehead sitting cross legged in a gravity field.

 

‘Okay, this is my limit for now. Let’s warm up a bit before going beyond.’

 

He changed position then started to do multiple series of push ups and sit ups. Once his body was ready for extreme activity he started increasing the gravity around him greatly in one go. So much that he was flatten to the floor immediately without even being able to resist. The goal was the same it always was: to adapt. The first step was to  endure it as long as he could before passing out. A rather drastic method but effective. Doing this training reminded him of his early days in this world and made him feel nostalgic. He really missed those days, they were happy ones after all and common were the times he wondered about his leaving the marines to join the strawhats. By following Luffy he was more or less aware what would happen making gaining karma an easier task. On the other hand, staying in the marines corp was… a real adventure. Not knowing what will happen next was really interesting. Rick came to the conclusion that he made the right decision. The number of karma points he earned during his time in the marine was insignificant in front of the number he gained with the crew. Saving Vivi and her kingdom brought more points than his 12 years in the navy. There was his haki problem too, perhaps he would have met Vegapunk when Sengoku and Garp would have been aware of it. Considering he could use two devil fruits but not haki, that would have been enough to bring him to the mad scientist.

 

‘It doesn’t matter in the end, I can’t go back in time.’

 

Even with the Toki Toki no mi it was impossible. Time always goes forward.

 

When Rick was flatten on the deck he made a loud ‘thud’ sound waking Zoro up and attracting everyone’s attention. The swordsman got closer and after careful consideration decided to try the gravity field. It didn’t end well for him. The hand he passed through was soon on the ground and the rest of his body connected to it followed. Under the pressure he was barely conscious and his bones started to creak a bit. Luffy grabbed one of his legs and pulled him out of the dangerous area.

 

“Zoro you’re okay?!”

Chopper had rushed to his side and was checking him. Zoro, trying to catch his breath, now that he could again, was unable to give an answer but raised his thumb up to signal that he was. Everyone looked towards Rick, still laying face down.

 

“Is he alright?” asked Nami.

“I don’t think so but at least he’s awake otherwise the gravity field would have disappeared.” answered Sanji.

The ex-marine started to move. Slowly he pushed with his arms the floor, trying to raise himself from it. Greeting his teeth he summoned every ounce of strength he had to be in a push up position. He failed and laid face down once more. After many tries he finally did it, and held the position for half a minute before removing the gravity field.

‘Not bad for a first day. I’d say in a day or two I’d be on my feet.’

 

He raised himself up and stretched and turned around facing the bewilderment of his crewmates.

“Is there something wrong?” he asked.

“What were you doing?” replied Usopp with his own question.

“Training.”

“Training?! You call that training?!” (Nami)

“Zoro’s bones almost broke.” (Chopper)

“Oh shit! Zoro you tried to enter the gravity field?!” (Rick)

“Yeah…”

“Don’t do that again when I’m in it, you could die!”

“Oh, I won’t anymore, once was enough.”

“Isn’t it a bit extreme?” (Robin)

“I wouldn’t know about that. That’s the way I trained since I was four.”

“F… four?” (Usopp)

“Yeah! At first it was difficult. I didn’t control my ability well and tended to go overboard so I passed out many times. Now I have a good grasp of it so it doesn’t happen that often.” (Rick)

“It’s still happen?!”(Sanji)

“Sometimes, when I go too far or I’m not focusing enough.”

“Can I try?” (Luffy)

“““““““Luffy!””””””

“I’d advise against it but you’re a rubber man so maybe it won’t do anything with such a high gravity won’t do anything to you.” (Rick)

 

Despite the rest of the crew against the idea Luffy went for it. It wasn’t the first time he trained under Rick’s gravity, like everyone else, but the gravity they were subjected to was child play. They felt heavier and had a bit of a hard time moving. Zoro particularly remembers how he was flattened to the ground on his first time, his recent experience was on a whole other level. Rick had been easy on him back then.

“Are you ready?”(Rick)

“Heck yeah!”(Luffy)

“Okay let’s start … wait!”(Rick)

“What’s wrong?”(Luffy)

 

Rick went inside the Merry and came back with a very long rope. The crew took it from the cloth covering the golden pillar in Skypiea, it would have been a waste to leave it there. He tied one end to the mast and the other to one of his captain’s ankles.

 

“What’s that for?”(Luffy)

“Precaution, let’s call it a safety net.” (Rick)

 

The ex-marine took position and activated his gravity field. Both Luffy and him ended up on the floor. The latter raised himself once again in a push up position, this time his goal was to stand even though he knew that was not possible yet. He took a look at Luffy. The strawhat’s leader was not lying face down like him but was forming some kind of puddle. The experiment done, Rick dispersed the gravity field. As he had foreseen, without any kind of pressure on him and thanks to a rubber body, Luffy shot straight to the sky. Everyone raised their head to look at their captain flying away.

 

“Good thinking on tying him up.”(Sanji)

“I didn’t think it would really happen.”(Rick)

“I hope this time he won’t get snatched by a giant bird.” (Zoro)

““““This time?!”””” (Usopp, Chopper, Robin, Rick)

 

‘Oh I forget that happened. It was very early in the manga. Zoro and Luffy hadn’t met Buggy yet.’

 

“It’s a long story.” (Zoro)

““““...””” (The crew)

“Do you think he’ll reach a sky island?” (Rick)

“Don’t raise flags!” (Nami)

 

The rope unrolled completely and to everyone's surprise, without any exception, the mast, instead of playing its part of anchor for Luffy, broke for the fourth time and followed the captain into the air. Rick’s quick reflexes and gravity prevented that. While he was holding the mast in position, Zoro and Sanji grabbed the rope and tucked on oit hard. A few seconds later, they saw Luffy falling down. His fall was stopped when Rick made him float.

 

“THAT WAS SO FUN!” yelled Luffy.

 

~~~~~

 

Days passed and nothing much changed with the crew's respective activities. Except Luffy, who sometimes could be seen pondering something. Their captain using his head was a dreadful sight for everyone but since he wasn’t really doing anything they let it go.

 

After Rick's previous display of his training Zoro, which surprised no one, asked him to train the same way, albeit to a more suitable regiment. It was a mix of body training and swinging swords. The ex-marine had progressed a lot, right now he was walking around in his own gravity field at a speed that was borderline jogging.

 

They had escaped, a few hours earlier, from a giant wave created by sea monkeys. With no wind if it was not for Rick’s intervention, pushing the Merry forward, they would have ended up like the pirate ship that tried to board up. Sunk with the crew.

 

“No one is going to talk about that weird pirate ship?” (Usopp)

“What is there to talk about?” (Sanji)

“No sails, no jolly roger, very few and very dispirited crew members? Doesn’t anyone find it odd?”(Usopp)

“They must have lost a fight and they were the only ones left, or it was a storm.”(Sanji)

“Their ship was in too good condition for any of that.”(Nami)

“Nami’s right, it certainly was no storm and no battle.”

 

The Vice-captain added his two berry as he was done with his training.

 

“Do you know anything about it?” (Usopp)

“Everything points to a Davy Back Fight.”(Rick)

“What’s that?” (Nami)

“Oh shit! No wonder… it’s a competition between pirates’ crew.” explained Usopp.

“A competition between pirates?”

 

Luffy joined the conversation excited by what he heard.

 

“Yes. It’s a kind of game where the winner can take everything they want from the loser. From the pirate ship we saw they seem to have lost quite a lot.” (Rick)

“I want to participate in one!” (Luffy)

 

He was smacked in the head by a furious Nami.

“Are you crazy?! What are we going to do if we lose, you idiot!”(Nami)

“There is no way we’re going to lose, I’ll beat everyone!”(Luffy)

“The Davy Back Fight is not only a brawl Luffy. It’s a succession of trials, brawling, racing, hide and seek or a simple coin toss.”(Rick)

“That sounds awesome!”(Luffy)

“Hearing it like that it is but the truth is this is not a fair competition.”(Rick)

“What do you mean?” (Chopper)

“It’s a competition between pirates, do you really think they will play fair? They bend the rules, outright break them, find loopholes, bribe the referee and many more things just so they can win.”(Rick)

“What kind of competition is this? It’s even worse than the stories I’ve heard.” (Sanji)

“A competition where the winner is the most ruthless and cunning. Your team may be the weakest but win if you’re smart enough to do so.”(Rick)

“That’s lame! I want to win fair and square!” (Luffy)

 

He was interrupted by Robin’s warning about an island in sight. His complaining stopped and was replaced by his excitement at the perspective of a new adventure. Soon enough they reached that new land, a vast plain which you couldn’t see the end of. Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were the first to disembark and went to explore immediately.

 

“Why are they so excited? It’s just a boring plain with no end in sight.” ( Sanji)

“Every island on the Grand Line is special in some way or another, I’m sure they’ll find something interesting.” (Rick)

“Guys, we got company.” said Zoro in a serious tone.

 

Turning around to see what he was talking about they saw a huge ship with a Fox as a figurehead. The word “FOXY” was written in huge capital letters on the front sail.

 

‘So it begins. Should I skip the event and go deal with Aokiji? Luffy, Zoro and Sanji are a lot stronger than they are supposed to be, he may not let them go this time.’

 

While Rick was thinking about his next course of action, the Foxy-ship let down his paw-looking anchors on each side of the Merry, blocking all escape.

 

“Who are you people?” (Zoro)

“...” (Robin and Rick)

“Come on down and fight!”(Sanji)

“What do you want from us?”(Nami)

“We’re the Foxy pirates! Don’t be anxious our duel will begin shortly.” said a voice from the ship

“So, they are those assholes. Sorry Nami, I guess I raised another flag.” (Rick)

“You know them?” (Sanji)

“They must be the one who stripped everything for the pirate ship we saw.”(Robin)

“Then when they say duel…” (Nami)

“They want to challenge us in a Davy Back Fight” (Rick).

“Interesting!” said Zoro with a smile before being smacked in the head by Nami.

“There is no way we’re participating in this stupid game!”(Nami)

“Nami, the Davy Back Fight is an ancestral tradition for pirates.”(Rick)

“It’s a gamble where you bet your friends and pride as pirates.”(Sanji)

“That’s not up to you anyway girl, but your captain. It doesn’t matter if the rest of the crew agree or not to participate.” said a member of the Foxy crew.

“It can’t be helped, Nami, this is the ‘law’ of the sea. No matter how foolish it sounds, if you run away or play tricks you will become the laughingstock of everyone in the world.”(Sanji)

“So? Let them laugh, who cares?!”(Nami)

““I do”” (Zoro and Rick)

“I’d rather die”  added Zoro

“Me too.” ( Sanji)

“What the heck is wrong with you ?!!” (Nami)

“Give it a rest… Men are always like that.” (Robin)

“Women are too. Besides, it's not really a matter of pride but self-respect. Fleeing before those losers… I’d die of shame.” (Rick)

“Fine! Then we have to stop Luffy now!”(Nami)

“Not ‘we’, you’re alone on that one Nami”(Rick)

 

Nami was already running in Luffy’s direction when two consecutive gun shot were heard.

 

“He accepted it…”(Sanji)

“I’m surprised it took him that long” (Rick)

“Perfect” (Zoro)

“This should be interesting.” (Robin)

“You’re all crazy!” (Nami)

“Your lack of faith is disturbing, you know?” (Rick)

~~~~~

 

They may be a bunch of losers but the Foxy pirates knew how to entertain. They made a huge fair with many, many stalls so that everyone could enjoy the game. Everyone  was having fun, except the strawhat crew. They were assembled in one corner discussing the game.

 

“What are we going to do?” lamented Nami.

“Nami, I told you, the Davy Back Fight is a game of cunningness and ruthlessness. The three of us are more than enough.” declared Rick.

“The threes of us?” asked Usopp.

“Robin, Rick and me.” (Nami)

“Are you saying we are idiots?” (Usopp)

 

Nami, Robin and Rick turned toward Usopp to look at him.

“““...”””

Then turned back and continued their conversation, ignoring the “OI!” of protest from the rest of the crew.

“We need to know the rules, so we don’t get any nasty surprises.” announced Robin.

“Yes but not all of them, only the ones for the games we’re playing.” (Nami)

“And be careful about who we send to each one of them because we can only be part of one of them” (Rick)

“So for the second event it will be Chopper, Zoro, Sanji and Me”

 

The three thinkers turned around to see Luffy talking to what seems to be an official.

““What are you doing?!”” (Nami and Rick)

“I’m giving the names of the ones participating in the second game, why?” replied innocently Luffy.

“You idiot! You should have waited for us to make a plan.” (Nami)

“Oh right! Well we can always change.” (Luffy)

“Actually you can’t. Once a name is registered you can’t change it.” said the official.

 

Hearing that key information Nami and Rick started beating their captain up.

“You moron!” (Nami)

“You *censored* of a *censored* that *censored* with a *censored* during a *censored*! What are we going to do now?!”(Rick)

“Wow! I never heard Rick talking like that before.” said a bewildered Usopp.

 

Sanji’s jaw hung low and his smoke had fallen to the ground, the ever stoic Zoro had eyes big like saucer. The Foxy’s pirates were shocked too. Some of them even put their index in their ears.

“Usopp, what does *censored*, *censored*, *censored*, *censored* and *censored*?” asked Chopper innocently before being nose to nose with robin who had crunch down to be at his level.

“Chopper, never, ever says those bad words again.”(Robin)

 

The reindeer got scared and nodded affirmatively. There was no way he would ever do so now.

 

Their captain, now beaten black and blue, Nami and Rick let him go and asked the official what the games were.

“The first game is the ‘Donut Race’. You have to circle around the island on a makeshift boat and reach the finish line while avoiding obstacles. The contestants from your team are Nami, Usopp and Nico Robin, the demon child. The second game is ‘Hit and Dead Ball’. You have to…” (official)

 

‘What did he say? Hit and Dead Ball? But that’s from the anime! Is it a mix of the two? Oh, that’s no good.’

 

“The participants are Chopper, Zoro Roronoa the pirate hunter, Sanji and the captain of the strawhat pirates, straw hat Monkey D. Luffy. The third game is a fight one on one on the Foxy pirates’ ship. Your team participant is by default...” (official)

 

He looked at Rick as he was the only one not on the list yet.

“Rick Waaaaa…” (official)

 

The official stopped stalking in the middle of saying Rick’s name. He had recognized the man. He had been lucky once, years ago to survive one of his hunts.

‘OH MY GOD! HE’S A PIRATE NOW?! WHAT THE HELL! I need to tell the captain!’ were his thoughts.

“A problem with my name?” said Rick in a passive aggressive tone.

“N-.. No, no. Rick Wald the world's worst traitor. He will fight against the captain of the Foxy pirates: Foxy the silver fox.” (official)

 

He ran away pretty quickly to warn his captain of his new piece of information and because he was deathly scared of Rick.

 

“Wait! I wanted to fight Gorilla face!” said Luffy clearly not happy.

“Well maybe next time you won’t be an idiot and let the smart ones do the thinking for you!” (Nami)

“Rick, let’s change places!” he insisted.

“We can’t, you moron!” (Rick)

 

‘Damnit! It’s imperative we lose the Donut Race so Chopper can mature a bit mentally. And there is no way to win the Hit and Dead Ball with its thousand rules… Ugh! I guess I’ll have to pull a Nami on Foxy.’ 

 

“MAY THE PARTICIPANTS FOR THE DONUT RACE GATHER AT THE DESIGNATED PLACE! THE GAME WILL START SOON!”