Whitebeard huffed in amusement when one of his nurses couldn't contain her delight at something Roronoa Zoro said. He didn't mind overmuch that she was cheering for the wrong team, and he could admit that what he'd said was pretty cool.
Overall, Whitebeard reckoned that this whole thing was a great idea, though he had been a little unsure at first.
It'd be nice if he could take Wano as his territory, to protect the homeland of his old friend as his own as he had failed to do before. Really, though, this was just some friendly competition before things started to get dangerous.
Whitebeard wasn't wholly sure exactly what was coming, but his instincts were telling him that war was coming. A war that would make Marineford look like a gentleman's disagreement.
He didn't know if he would survive it this time. It was already a miracle and a half that he survived at Marineford.
Foxy's annoying whistle distracted him from his dire thoughts. He was holding up a yellow card and pointing at Jinbe.
"You can't pin another horse to the ground!" Foxy declared.
He was conveniently ignoring how Speed Jiru was doing just that to Black Leg. Whitebeard didn't point out the hypocrisy.
Jinbe gave a short apology that sounded genuine to Whitebeard's ears. Always honorable that one; Whitebeard probably would have poached him first, if they were playing for crew. He'd make for a good division commander.
He glanced up to the aerial battle between Marco and Nico Robin.
That woman was going to be right at the center of the conflict to come, without any doubt. Her ability to read the poneglyphs would guarantee it, for better or for worse.
Whitebeard figured it was for the best. The Straw Hats were strong for such a young crew, so let them take some of the heat off of his sons.
"Who do you think will win, Ace?" Whitebeard asked, downing another bottle of sake.
Ace squirmed in his seat, and Whitebeard knew why. His pride for his own crewmates was warring with his pride for his kid brother.
Truthfully, Whitebeard could see this going either way. If Black Leg had been the rider, he'd be certain Marco would win, purely for the fact that the young cook couldn't fly in the traditional sense. He'd get worn down eventually, while Marco was all but tireless thanks to his devil fruit. Nico Robin, though… he had no idea what she was capable of. She had already shown more than he thought she was.
"I think Luffy's crew has the edge," Ace claimed with a wince.
"Oh? How do you figure?" Whitebeard was genuinely curious why he thought that. Had he seen something Whitebeard hadn't?
"Well…" Ace gathered his thoughts. "If she had been a horse, they already would have won."
That hadn't been what he'd been expecting at all. He set his cup down and regarded Ace seriously, "You're certain?"
"Yeah. I'm sure you've already gauged that she could attack our horses with her arms sprouting from the ground or their bodies, but I don't think you realize how dangerous that would be for us, pops," Ace sighed and scratched his head under his hat.
"I didn't think she was strong enough to make the most of it," Whitebeard admitted. "You really think she could overpower Jozu and Atmos?"
"Maybe not directly, but she'd have Jinbe and Zoro there to shove them out of bounds," Ace determined. "Nevermind that, though. She isn't one of their horses, so she can't really touch ours. I'm more concerned that she hasn't sprouted any limbs from Marco yet."
That was true, and also alarming. "What is she planning?"
"Nothing good, I expect," Ace slumped in his seat.
…
"Damn, I guess we've lost this one," Cherry sighed.
"What? What do you mean?!" Nami's back went ramrod straight. "I've got money riding on this!"
"Zoro screwed up," Cherry said, but didn't elaborate.
"How?! What did he do?!" Nami demanded, shaking her by the shoulders.
"Oh, I see," Reiju said. "That sucks."
"What sucks?!" Nami spun around. "Why aren't you telling me anything?!"
"You can't change your bet at this point, anyway. Calm down," Usopp said.
"Don't act like you know what's happening! You don't get it either!" Nami flicked his nose, which he had held up to look down at her from.
"Is it…" Carrot spoke up. "Because he hasn't gone to help Sanji?"
"That's part of it," Cherry revealed. "He should have let Jinbe hold the line for a bit while he went to get Speed Jiru off of Sanji."
"Bastard…" Pudding pouted with crossed arms.
"The other part is that he isn't cheating," Brook continued.
"But cheating could lose us the game, right?" Chopper asked.
"It could also win us the game," Cherry said. "Instead of trying to be a brawler, he should have gotten some 'blades' somewhere and used them."
"Where the heck is he meant to get swords from?" Usopp raised an eyebrow.
"Not swords, silly. 'Blades'," Cherry corrected.
"Those are literally the same thing," Usopp pointed out, the fool.
Cherry rolled her eyes and crouched down close to the ground. There, she plucked some grass from the door and held it aloft.
She got a few stares of confusion, so she demonstrated with a roll of her eyes.
*schwing*
A flying slash ripped through the air and cut the tips of Foxy's spiky hairdo clean off.
"OH! I get it," Franky nodded with a big smile. "Blades… of grass!"
*Pweeeeeeeet!*
Foxy blew his whistle and pointed at Cherry. "You aren't allowed to attack the referee!"
"Attack you? With what?" Cherry waved her 'blade' around.
Foxy opened his mouth a few times, but ultimately snapped it shut and grumbled something unintelligible. He could have called her out on it, but then he'd be telling the whole world she could threaten him with a blade of grass.
"Ah, looks like Zoro is just stupid, but not blind," Cherry commented. After all, the whistle had called the attention of not just the audience, but the players as well. Zoro had seen what happened and was inspired.
"Hey!" *Pweet!* "Put that grass down! No weapons allowed!" Foxy argued.
"Grass isn't a weapon," Zoro said.
"You're going to use it like one! That counts!" Foxy declared.
"It doesn't matter how I'll use it, only if it's a 'weapon'. Or are you going to argue that my fists are weapons, just because I can hurt people with them?" Zoro shot back.
"It says right here that environmental destruction is permitted in the effort to dismount or foil the other team," Cherry said, suddenly holding Foxy's own copy of the Davy Back Fight rule book. "I think plucking some grass falls under that, no?"
"I-! No-! This is-!" Foxy desperately searched for any excuse to meddle.
"Leave it be," Whitebeard said in a low rumble. "If my boys get cut by a blade of grass, then they have only their laziness to blame."
"Continue!" Foxy blew his whistle again, instantly abandoning his attempt to disrupt the Straw Hats by whatever petty means he had available to him. He wasn't so foolish as to become a nuisance in the eyes of Whitebeard just for a taste of sweet revenge.