Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ Dimension Cross Tournament ❯ Battle 1:Band of Seven vs. Team Merry Go ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

DIMENSION CROSS TOURNAMENT
Battle 1: Band of Seven vs. Team Merry Go
Disclaimer: If you see it here, I likely don't own it. Given the number of series involved, a more comprehensive disclaimer would probably be too long. Also, this fanfiction is rated PG-13/T for graphic violence.

~

It was time. Months in the making, an inordinate cost, a huge amount of hype, and a full house of combat enthusiasts, with thousands more watching at home. And at the heart of it all was a masked man in a white fur cloak, observing from afar.

"I must thank you, Tendo-san," he said, his voice as smooth as ever. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had this... opportunity."

Nabiki nearly laughed up her white wine-- another reason why teenage girls shouldn't be business execs. "Oh, it's only been my pleasure. I mean, I'm the one who's making all the money off of this, and I just set up the administration. If it wasn't for you, we'd have a tournament with no fighters."

"Sometimes I think you could get away with that," the masked man said gravely.

Nabiki looked puzzled for a moment, guessed that was a joke, and laughed. The man in the white suit paid her no mind, now paying his full attention to the television set, tuned to the Dimension Cross Tournament. ~

"All right everyone, how ya doin'?" Joey Wheeler, the announcer, said into his mic. The crowd roared. "I'd like to welcome you all to the first annual Dimension Cross Tournament! Beginning in just a few moments, we're going to see the first half of the first round matches: eight teams of five locked in battle for the right to advance! We've got the best fighters from all over the multiverse here, and they're all here for their own reasons, because the winning team will receive ONE WISH, no strings attached!"

There were strings attached, of course-- cosmic power had its price. The wish had to be agreed upon wholeheartedly by all five members of the team, and extortion was impossible. And there were the usual cosmic rules: no wishing for more wishes, no altering the past, etc. But it was still a damn good prize.

"As you can see by your programs," --Joey took a moment to shill-- "...and if you haven't got a program yet, you can pick them up at the information booth for the low, low price of 900 yen; we've already drawn the first-round match-ups, and the very first fight will be TEAM MERRY GO, led by Monkey D. Luffy, versus THE BAND OF SEVEN, led by Bankotsu. If those teams could make their way to ringside now..."

The Band of Seven were the first to arrive, entering through the east passageway to cheers. Jakotsu waved at them, parading himself in front of the cameras and loving the attention. Despite this, he wasn't actually fighting today. As they had more men than the legal team size, they had to draw straws each round to see which five would fight. For the first match, Jakotsu and Ginkotsu were out.

The five present fighters-- Bankotsu, Kyokotsu, Renkotsu, Mukotsu and Suikotsu-- stepped into the stone arena.

"Sucks to draw the short straw, huh?" said Jakotsu.

"Gn," intoned Ginkotsu.

"I had to get stuck with the brainless one... well, one of them," Jakotsu complained.

Fashionably late, the crew of the Merry Go walked in through the west entrance. Though the shortest in the group, the cursed kid in the straw hat was their leader, and he went out to meet Bankotsu and special ninja referee Kuroko.

Kuroko made a complicated gesture with his flags.

"This match will use tag-team rules, one fall," Joey translated. "For the rest of you, each team will only have one fighter out at a time. If that fighter is down or out of the ring for more than 10 seconds, they lose the match. The active fighter can switch out by touching, or 'tagging' another member of his team."

Bankotsu yawned, outwardly seething with confidence. "Yeah yeah, we get it."

"Hey, I didn't know that!" Luffy insisted.

Bankotsu smirked. This bunch clearly weren't a match for them. Oh well. It was only the first round, nobody expected a fair fight yet.

"Suikotsu, you take this," he designated with a yawn. "Not worth my time."

The psychotic fighter grinned and scraped his claws together. Finally, some fresh meat. Suikotsu of the Band of Seven was out again and ready to open up some pirates.

Suikotsu didn't know what was going on, or who the six warriors that were holding him were. He actually couldn't remember much of anything at all, with at least the past few days being a blurred patch in his memory. That happened to Suikotsu often-- he would disappear from the village for days on end, and then wake up with no memory of where he had been.

One of the men walked in, carrying his sword. This was the one that dressed like a woman, but the doctor could tell the sex from his frame. "How are you doing, Suikotsu?"

Suikotsu shuffled away, into the wall. "How do you know my name?"

"Oh god, it's you again." The cross-dresser rolled his eyes. "Okay, this'll hurt a bit. Be thankful that I like pain."

Whimpering, Suikotsu the doctor could only watch as the man walked up to him, drawing his trick sword. With practised precision, he shallowly cut not Suikotsu's skin, but his own. A crimson line was drawn across his chest, and then a drop of ruby blood landed on Suikotsu's sleeve.

Oh god... blood... bloodletting bloodkilling bloodpain bloodhurting bloodno bloodno bloodmustnotlosecontrol blooditshappeningagain bloodcan'tstopit bloodfighting bloodkilling bloodSuikotsu.

"No problem," said Jakotsu, not bothering to dress the small wound.

"Where the hell am I?" asked Suikotsu. He was just now noticing the modern decor of the hotel room.

"It's called a hotel, apparently," Jakotsu yawned. "Swanky digs, huh?"

"Weird." More discrepancies rose to Suikotsu's brain. "Say, what happened in that last battle? I know I took a pretty bad hit from an arrow-- to be honest, I'm surprised I survived--"

"You didn't," Jakotsu interrupted. "We got killed off. Apparently it's, like, five hundred years in the future or something, and this guy resurrected us to take part in this tournament."

Suikotsu blinked, trying to take in what his comrade had just said casually.

"Don't worry about it," Jakotsu dismissed, with just a hint of condescension. "We're fighting tomorrow, and we're going to kick ass. Just like old times."

"It seems like yesterday."

"Just like yesterday, then."

Suikotsu's opponent was supposedly the leader of the opposing team, but looked more like their mascot. A teenage boy in a straw hat with unscarred skin hardly made him quiver in fear. Inside, he anticipated an easy match.

"Hey, Kotsu-san!" Luffy shouted, instantly drawing the ire of his clawed opponent. "Let's have a good fight, all right!" He held out his hand, a motion of trust and friendship.

Suikotsu took his hand and shook it. Then he slid his claws forward, cutting open Luffy's wrist.

"Hey!" Luffy cried, falling back into an amateurish defensive stance. "Ow! What was that for?"

"I'm your opponent, right?" was all Suikotsu said before rushing Luffy again.

The pirate looked a bit annoyed, and wound up his fist over-dramatically. Expecting a sucker punch, Suikotsu swerved towards it, his left arm still outreached to slash his enemy.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" The boy's punch turned out not to be a bluff at all, as it came flying straight at Suikotsu, striking him on the left side of the face. The Band of Seven fighter hit the ground, still feeling the impact of the punch on his face. The boy had a strong arm.

"Gum-Gum Pistol!" he repeated, just as Suikotsu was staggering to his feet. Suikotsu grinned. Stupid kid, announcing his attacks like that. The Band of Seven was way too professional to do that-- well, except for Bankotsu, but he had always been a ham.

Suikotsu swerved out of the way of the second punch, and darted in towards Luffy. He grinned when his attack was unblocked, save for a futile attempt to shift body weight away from the blow. Yet, he couldn't feel the usual skin breaking underneath his blade, and spurts of blood up against his knuckles. Frowning, he leaned in further, and looked at the enemy

The kid must have been a great contortionist, because he was bending inwards, even sitting down, so that Suikotsu's claws didn't quite pierce his skin. With a growl, Suikotsu thrust forward, only to have the kid give as much. He looked almost like a hot air balloon, with Suikotsu's hand the flame.

Suikotsu finally made contact, and found the body underneath to be surprisingly tense. Suddenly, it snapped, and like a rubber band Luffy slammed into Suikotsu with bone-breaking force. The clawed mercenary was sent flying, and landed on his back squarely outside of the ring.

"I call that my Gum-Gum Slingshot!"

"I'm so proud," his long-nosed teammate gushed from ringside.

~

Luffy grinned as he watched the claw-man go flying. That might have been the end of the match. That was a shame, because he really wanted to get a good workout. Still, they were there for the prize, and no matter what Zoro said they couldn't afford to be too bound by honour and the quest for a good fight.

"So... what is this?" Nami asked as she glanced over the piece of parchment. The Merry Go had just departed from the seaside village they had been staying in, and was currently drifting away from softly while her crew looked at what Luffy had picked up.

"It's a tournament," said Luffy.

"We could tell," muttered Sanji. "It does say 'Dimension Cross Tournament' after all. Where did you get this, Luffy."

"Dunno. I was just walking around and it fell onto my head."

Nami sighed. "So, why do you want us to enter?"

"Well, it says five-person team, and we just happen to have five members," Luffy explained, enjoying his near-divine favour. "Plus, it'll help us get ready for the Grand Line. Oh, and there's always the prize."

"What's the prize?" asked Nami, her mercenary attitude shining in her eyes.

"Says right here. One wish," Luffy beamed. "We could use it to find out where the One Piece is!"

"Couldn't we just wish for the One Piece, if you want it so bad?"

"That would take all the fun out of it."

The crew took a moment to think it over. Luffy was already convinced that this was a great idea. Usopp, on the other hand, fully opposed it. "We can't do this, Luffy. I would have to fight! Heads-up! I'd get slaughtered!"

"Don't worry, coward," Zoro dismissed, smacking Usopp on the back playfully. The long-nosed pirate fell face forward into the deck. "Let's do it. I need to get stronger as well."

"7... 8..." Usopp, on edge, counted the flags of Kuroko as the referee made the count nonverbally.

Suikotsu staggered back into the arena, blood leaking from his forehead. Despite the near back-braking injury, he looked feral as he dove into the ring and rushed at Luffy, claws extended. They were anointed with small droplets of Luffy's blood.

"GUM-GUM PISTOL!" Luffy drew his fist back and sent it zooming forward, the elastic limb stretching out to strike Suikotsu. The Band of Seven fighter hit the ground again, but wasn't seriously hurt by the attack.

"Suikotsu," the black-haired man with the ponytail, who Luffy assumed was the captain, commanded calmly. "Tag out. This isn't a good match-up for you."

"Shut the hell up, Bankotsu," Suikotsu snarled, and rushed towards Luffy again, only to find himself knocked back once more by a Gum-Gum Machine gun. The berserker grumbled and extended his hand to tag out.

Bankotsu smirked. "Good on ya, pal. Mukotsu, I think this one's for you. A little gas will take care of him." The next member of the Band of Seven, a small man dressed from head to toe, cackled as he stepped up.

"You're short," Luffy observed bluntly.

Mukotsu just cackled again, and took out a canister from underneath his robes. At ringside, Bankotsu took out his halberd and began spinning it around in his hands, moving faster and faster until the whirling blade created a strong breeze.

"That's annoying," Usopp said into the sudden breeze.

"Annoying but I don't see why he'd do it..." Nami's brow furrowed as she thought hard about the enemy's tactics.

His first fight alongside Luffy popped into Sanji's head, and he gasped. "Luffy! It's poison gas! He's blowing it this way so his own team won't be affected!"

"No way!" a spectator could be heard saying. "Wouldn't that affect half the crowd as well?"

~

Mukotsu himself was just surprised that Luffy hadn't attacked yet. The boy just stood there, grinning, waiting for Mukotsu to ready his weapon. The poison master smirked. Idiot.

He held up his drum of airborne paralysing poison, ready to knock their enemies out, but paused when he saw that his present opponent no longer had a head.

Two seconds later, the Gum-Gum Bell collided into Mukotsu's bell, and his drum of poison fell right down next to his unconscious form.

~

Fortunately for the Band of Seven, Mukotsu had never ventured far from ringside, and Suikotsu, still eager for battle, was able to grab his hand and venture into the ring once more.

Luffy walked to the edge of the circular ring and stretched. "I'm bored. Someone else take over."

Sanji grinned and slapped Luffy's hand as he ventured into the ring himself. He figured that since Luffy had already beat this freak up some, he would just deal the finishing blows and lock this match up.

Suikotsu would have none of it. He charged towards Sanji, drawing his claw back as he rushed forward. Sanji dashed forward as well, sliding past Suikotsu at the last minute and sweeping his legs under the berserker, though failing to trip the enemy.

Suikotsu stabbed forward, driving his claws into Sanji's shoulder. The pirate cook grimaced at the pain, but didn't stop to recover as he swung his leg up and struck Suikotsu in the back of the neck. "Collier Shoot!" The berserker fell to the ground.

Sensing opportunity, Sanji delivered a kick to Suikotsu's ribs, followed by a Poitrine into his opponent's chest. The latter shot connected, but Suikotsu grabbed Sanji's legs, and used the momentum to slam the pirate into the ground. Suikotsu, now standing, grinned and leapt at Sanji.

The two brawled on the ground, rolling back and forth and exchanging kicks for slashes. Eventually, Sanji pulled himself off Suikotsu, his black suit torn with several claw marks. Suikotsu also brought himself to his feet, staggering from repeated blows. Then, Suikotsu rushed forward again. Sanji smirked. All the tactics of a wild animal.

"Cotellette!" Sanji dropped himself to the ground before flying forward to deliver a kick to Suikotsu's ribs. The Band of Seven member was pushed back and Sanji quickly flipped around to the other side, twisting his other leg into a high kick. "Selle!" The attack hit Suikotsu's lower back, and the clawed warrior hit the ground yet again.

Sanji thought he would stay down this time, but despite the fact that the was now leaving bloody tracks as he fought, Suikotsu struggled to his feet. The cook shrugged and went for a finishing blow.

Channelling all of his strength into his right leg, Sanji shot forward as though fired from a gun, arcing his leg around with the intention of delivering a bone-breaking kick to Suikotsu's centre. "MOUTON--"

Suikotsu surged forward with hidden vitality and cut open the forward leg. Sanji flailed and hit the ground, his leg landing at an unnatural angle as it gushed blood. Suikotsu grinned, and ran to the edge to finally tag out. To Bankotsu.

Sanji was so focused on getting to his feet making it to the ring, and tagging out, that he almost couldn't dodge the Banryu which came at him. "To tell the truth, I can't see how throwing your sword was a good idea," he smirked. He missed the halberd doubling back to slice open the back of his other leg entirely.

As Sanji fell to his knees, both legs disabled. Bankotsu circled around him, picking up his blood-soaked sword. "Well well. Looks like it's all over."

To Be Continued...

~

Author's Notes:

Yeah, this is basically completely unnecessary, but I saw so much bad tournament fic around, and just decided to write my own massive crossover for the sole point of hopefully awesome fights between various anime characters (though there is some non-anime here, it's just in the minority). Trust me, there is a plot here, it's just being revealed slowly, to pace out the fights.

For reference: the Band of Seven is from Inuyasha, Team Merry Go are from One Piece, Nabiki is from Ranma 1/2, Joey (the ring announcer) is from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Kuroko is from Samurai Shodown. Yay for pointless cameos!

Thanks go out to http://www.all-blue.org/ for information on Sanji's attacks.

Next time: Somewhat less of Suikotsu getting beat down!