Behind The Scenes, A Rising Scheme

~Dabi~

'I really wish I had slept longer…' This was one of many thoughts that crossed my mind as I watched the massacre in front of me, participants were being chopped left and right as some tried to run away from the imminent pain and possible death. I stood back and watched his every movement, he didn't seem to have any pattern, he was simply swinging and chopping whatever his weapon would hit. It was certainly a sight, and considering how many contestants he had already wounded and taken out. It was a decent strategy, finally all of the contestants decided to rush him together.

Exactly what I was waiting for, it would have been a shame if they had all been wiped out without trying at least. Quickly sneaking through the crowd of angry and terrified fighters, once the pieces fell into place. I raised my arms as he swept the crowd away, sending a large wave of flames at his back. Motioning for the others as they rushed and pushed him towards the edge while he was disoriented, I did my best to keep out of sight as they did their best. It was definitely commendable, but also fruitless. Since he ended up knocking them off just as they got him dangling a foot off the edge, immediately taking action, I glanced at the last participant who was next to me.

Smirking at him, and grabbing his shoulder in a tight grip "How 'bout a flight?" I said before lifting him up, I tossed him at the tilting giant. It did help a bit, but the dude seriously had some good balance. Sending a wave of fire, he put his arms up to block them as much as possible as I rushed at him after the flames. 'C'mon, that Haki stuff would be useful right about now. Maybe I should ask Luffy to teach me how to properly use it.' I slammed into him as he went tumbling off the edge shouting, huffing out a relieved sigh, I grimaced at the loud roaring crowed. Picking my ear with my picky, I made my way back to the waiting room. Meeting up with Luffy and Shoto, they congratulated me.

"That dude was seriously something, I definitely got lucky managing to get him off balance. I would've lost a head on battle." Sighing and patting their heads, well...Luffy's helmet...It didn't take long for B block to start their fight, we watched the previous contestants be rushed off to the medical room when a voice behind us caught our attention.

"Hey, I'm not blind you know…"

Looking back, I saw some tall dude with sunglasses and stitches standing behind Luffy.

"Hm?" Luffy hummed in question.

"No matter how you disguise yourself...I won't forget the face of the one who besmirched my reputation!!" He claimed.

Me and Shoto shared confused and interested expressions, looking back at Luffy at the man,

"Oh! You're the one who gave the old chestnut guy trouble...Malo…" He pondered the guys name.

"Chestnut?" I questioned while looking a Shoto who simply shrugged.

"It's Bellamy." The guy corrected.

"Right, Bellamy!! Why are you here?!" Luffy was now questioning, though it was kind of obvious. The Bellamy dude is in the contestants waiting room, so he's a contestant, meaning he's after the Mera Mera fruit like everyone else here. I ignored the majority of their conversation, since I was stuck on the "Sky Island/Skypiea" part.

'I know the others would never lie, but there really is such a thing? Who am I kidding, I've seen dragons, a giant acidic/gas slime, Minotars, and possibly fairies. I shouldn't be surprised at this point, moreover, I should just expect it.' Sighing at the growing headache, Bellamy seems to be in B block, since the announcer, well...Announced his name as he walked onto the battlefield. Luffy and Shoto joined the Sparkly "Cabbage" dude, as Luffy called him. To watch the battle, deciding on letting them do their thing, I wandered around. Though it was more so, gathering intel. Hey, a villain will always be a villain, though to be fair. If you aren't trying to find the deep dark secrets in a place like this, then you're either an idiot, or have no sense of true adventure. Excluding Luffy and Shoto, though Luffy is very much a carefree idiot most of the time. And Shoto is more focused on the tournament, he isn't a full fledged hero yet, afterall.

Majority of the place was empty or filled with contestants, then I found some cells, the people in them looked terrible. I suppose they've been here a while, maybe criminals, or they're just being forced to fight constantly until they die. Who knows, I didn't stay long enough to ask, considering the amount of exploring done. I had yet to uncover anything somewhat useful...At least that was what I was thinking, until I uncovered a grim detail of this colosseum...Though it wasn't that clear, I did watch a contestant who was apparently being "treated" for their wounds, be dropped into a hole where he and other losers were left to rot. I would've much more enjoyed finding out they instead enslaved the losers, that would be easier and nicer. Then who knows what lies down in that pit. 'Wait...Who exactly is Shoto facing off against…?' A sinking feeling filled my stomach as I quickly snuck back to Luffy and Shoto, my eyes darted around the contestants room. It seemed a lot of things happened while I was exploring, pushing past the converging group as my eyes landed on Shoto who was looking around with a lost puppy dog expression. Grabbing onto him, he nearly took my eye out with an ice spike in return.

"Touya! Where have you been? Luf- Lucy, he slipped on his identity and some people really want to kill him." He replied.

"Damnit, I leave you two alone for a few minutes and that kid immediately stirs up trouble." Sighing, I nodded in understanding of the situation as the crowd suddenly went wild. It seems the next round was starting, it wasn't hard to have faith in Luffy. The kid didn't have a high bounty just for show, the main thing I'm worried about is Shoto. I need to get him out of here somehow, I should've left him with Eraser in the first place, he would've been safer watching above. Skimming a hand through my hair, I pulled Shoto with me as we watched Luffy finish his competition. After the intense match, we went to meet up with him only to find him in a battle with another contestant.

""Strawhats"'s that one kid right? The pirate who couldn't save his brother in the war. Dahahahahah if I don't have to save him anyway, even I couldn't do that!" Some pathetic excuse for a person said. My eyes immediately honed onto the idiot who obviously didn't have a single brain cell, I quickly grabbed onto the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the wall. Pressing a particular flame covered hand over his face, he screamed in pain as his face sizzled and popped.

"Pardon me, I seem to have misheard you. Because, I don't think any logical or respectable person would comment and laugh about someone else's experience and trauma. So if you wouldn't mind helping correct my hearing by telling me what you seemingly very clearly said and laughed about, that would be great." I took my hand off his face, revealing a nice scorched handprint. He groaned in pain, his lips had melted together slightly on accident, he murmured nonsense as I sighed and tossed him away. Shoto had a slightly disapproving expression as his arms crossed, "Quiet, he's an idiot anyways, lucky I didn't turn him to ash, Tsk" I clicked my tongue. Glancing around, I noticed a weird green mohawked guy. He kept glancing off at me while watching Luffy and Cabbage battle. He seemed in awe of Luffy whilst bloodlusting for Cabbage, raising an eyebrow at him as he choked up trying to shout at Sparkly.

Another contestant seemed to have joined the action, I think he wanted to thank luffy...Possibly, but the cracking ground under his bowing stance really gave the wrong impression in the current situation. Sighing in annoyance, I diverted the others from Luffy's escape, noticing the weird green mohawk guy staring at me, he glanced around before walking over.

"A-Are you with strawhat?" He questioned, seemingly unsure.

"If I am? Sorry if you're some fanboy, but clearly there are people here after him. The kid is a magnet for trouble after all, and you don't seem like you can have a proper conversation, let alone be near him anyway." I quickly grabbed Shoto as we followed after Luffy who was grabbed by Rebbeca, 'When will this end? There's all too much happening for how little rest I got earlier, I hope Eraser is having some sort of trouble as well, I don't want to be the only one suffering here. Well, being fair. Law is definitely suffering the most...No amount of rest will rescue him from the constant pain of dealing with this damn crew and their crazy antics...'