"Our first contender is a regular fighter here in our boxing arena! He's a bit slow, both with his punches and his mind, but he can give and take hits all day long! Bullo 'Oxblood' Oxheart!" The announcer shouted.
A heavyset man walked with thunderous footsteps into the boxing ring. He easily stood three meters tall and his fat failed to hide the massive muscles bulging beneath the skin of his arms. His legs were as thick as an elephant's and he clearly knew how to use them with his immovable fighting stance.
The crowd cheered, but it was clear they were more filled with anticipation for the next fighters than they were with Oxblood.
"Next we have the man with a mean streak longer than the Grand Line! You would all hate his guts on any other day, but today he's one of our heroes! Bluto 'The Terrible'!" The announcer said with mounting excitement.
This one was barrel chested and hairy. He was shorter than Oxblood at two meters tall, but his presence was much greater. His wide smile showed off his inner cruelty without any shame and he practically had malice dripping off of him.
The crowd cheered louder this time, but Cherry felt that they were forcing themselves to do so out of fear. She could understand why just by looking at Bluto's wild eyes darting around as if in search of someone who dared not to cheer for him. When those eyes landed on Cherry's group, his smile widened and he sent a provocative wink their way.
Cherry wasn't sure if it'd be more or less annoying for him to be flirty with them than for him to look for them later to teach them a lesson for not cheering.
"For our final champion of Sweethaven, we have our favorite sailor with a heart of gold! His punches knock the air out of the lungs of his enemies and leave the ladies breathless! Popeye 'the Sailor Man'!" The announcer screamed, standing from his seat in his excitement.
The last of Sweethaven's defenders was a short man standing only one and a half meters tall. He was far from handsome with his overdeveloped jaw, mouth with no teeth, and one missing eye. He had a lanky build, the sole exception being his massive forearms with an anchor tattooed on each.
Despite his less than traditional 'beauty', the crowd went wild at the sight of him. Especially the ladies in the audience, some of which even fainted in all their excitement. The woman named Olive was heard shouting over the crowd from a VIP box telling Popeye to "Punch his lights out!".
Bluto spotted Olive and blew a kiss at her which Olive desperately scrambled to move out of the way as if there was actually something to dodge.
"Last and certainly least, we have the challenger. Bartolomeo 'the Cannibal'." The announcer spoke without any of the zest he had for the previous three.
The crowd went completely silent. They already understood that Bartolomeo would love their boos and jeers from the time that he'd already spent on their island and they wouldn't give him the satisfaction.
"Hehahahaha!" Bartolomeo's laugh was heard clearly in the silent arena. Even their stubborn silence was something he enjoyed.
"Does he eat people?" Cabernet whispered.
"I think it's a pun that means he mocks people. I hope." Robin answered.
Bartolomeo started hyping up the crowd with his back turned to his three opponents, by which I mean that he was hurling insults at them. Soon enough people couldn't take it any more and started shouting at him, much to his amusement.
*Ding!*
The starting bell was suddenly rung by an old woman with a familial resemblance to Oxblood, rather than by the official bell ringer. Bluto and Oxblood paid no mind to that however as they charged Bartolomeo who had his back turned. Popeye, the honorable man that he is, tried to argue that it was a false start, though his voice fell on deaf ears.
Bartolomeo seemed completely oblivious to the two large men rearing up to punch him in the back of the head. The crowd were on the edge of their seats hoping that the rude pirate would get his just desserts.
*Bong! Bong!*
Oxblood and Bluto's punches were suddenly stopped before they reached their intended target. Instead they landed on what appeared to be a large, blue tinted glass pane.
"Wow! You were sooooo close to breaking my barrier! How scary!" Bartolomeo spoke with a smirk, his tone laced with mockery and sarcasm.
Cherry was looking at the barrier with sparkling eyes. 'Those punches were completely absorbed by that barrier of his, and with no sign of stress at all!'
Granted, the punches weren't all that strong. Oxblood had enough experience to know better than to go all out without knowing for sure your attack would land, and Bluto was cunning enough to know better as well.
However, seeing the barrier between them, they were emboldened to try a bit harder this time.
The judges told Popeye to just get on with the fight, so he had turned his attention to the barrier as well.
Bluto's form expanded in size and his skin took on a pink shade. His nose protruded and became rounded while his ears got longer and floppier. The end result looked like a hybrid between a pig and a man.
"There it is folks! Bluto's famous Oink Oink Fruit!" The announcer shouted.
Bluto and Oxblood took up positions that would allow them to maximize their punching strength. Normally it would be difficult to perfectly line up a blow like this, but with Bartolomeo hiding behind his barrier they had all the time in the world.
They wound back their fists in sync with each other and coated them with the densest armament haki they could manage.
Cherry was actually a bit impressed with the strength of it. They could both contend with super rookie pirates on their own, let alone in a three on one fight.
*BONGBONG!!!*
The resulting sound of the collision between their fists and the barrier was much louder and the winds produced by the strikes were proof of the enormous gap in power between these punches and the first ones.
Still, the barrier was unshaken with not even the smallest crack.
"Hehahahaha! Weak! Lame! Are these losers the best that this crappy town could scrounge up?!" Bartolomeo was completely unconcerned by their power.
He turned his back to the two fighters once again which made them seethe with anger as the pounded away at the barrier.
"""BOOOOO!""" The crowd hated him and he lapped it up.
Bartolomeo started picking out specific people to mock in a more personal manner.
He pointed at a man next to his wife. "Hey big nose! Does that thing poke your ugly wife in the eyes when you kiss her?"
He pointed at another man. "Your toupe is really convincing, sir! I almost couldn't tell it was made of ass hair!"
He pointed at Olive in the VIP box. "Oh look! It's the bean pole! Don't you just hate those bean pods without any beans inside? Just a flat disappointment." He groped the air with both hands in front of his chest.
Bartolomeo sensed a flash of killing intent at that last comment about Olive's less than ample chest. He eagerly searched the crowd for what he assumed was another flat chested woman with insecurities he could poke at.
Bartolomeo locked eyes with Cherry who looked rather irked.
"C- C- C- C- Cherry Nee-san?!" He sputtered in shock.
Cherry raised an eyebrow at this odd behavior. "What the fuck?"