pan2000 | Intermission: The Climb to the Top

The second round of the tournament is ending, and the final battle is between Tomari and a Gnoll named Anzai.

"Tomari?" the Gnoll asks. "Where does it come from?"

"Greek. It refers to skinning. And now that I think about it, I would love to wear some hyena fur."

"All you will wear is burial clothes."

"This is unsportsmanlike, both of you!" the announcer tells them. "Get on with the fight."

The two fighters smile sheepishly, Tomari doing so behind his mask, and then they bow to each other before the duel.

Then they charge at each other, with Tomari unleashing a flying kick. Anzai dodges it and punches him in the face three times, making him flinch each time.

Tomari retaliates by jumping and performing a two-handed hammerfist, knocking the Gnoll down. However, Anzai recovers fast and wraps his arms around the human's waist, then suplexes him with all of his might.

"You're strong, but I am still one of Big Al's best!" Tomari says as he struggles to get up.

He quickly jumps away to avoid a hard left hook, then waits for him to charge and prepares a powerful axe kick.

Anzai avoids the kick with ease and backhands Tomari hard before he knocks him down with an uppercut.

"Anzai is showing us all why the word "monster" is used about strength! 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... "

Tomari gets up and shakes his head, recovering.

Then he slides under a punch and strikes his opponent, making him lose his balance before he knocks him down with a two-handed aerial hammerfist.

"Tomari has done a very good comeback! 1... 2... 3... 4... 5..."

However, Anzai gets back up at seven, and avoids the next hammerfist before he lands a strong flying kick on his opponent.

When the masked warrior attempts yet another hammerfist, Anzai grabs his arms and pulls them hard enough to make him cringe in pain. Then he bites his opponent hard in the neck, causing him to scream.

"That was vicious! Tomari has to adapt soon, or he'll be a goner!" the announcer tells everyone.

Tomari glares at his opponent, gritting his teeth to suppress the pain. Then he jumps on one of the poles of the arena and attempts to divebomb his opponent.

Anzai gets hit by the attack and nearly falls down, but he manages to stay on his feet. Then he avoids a flying knee kick before he attempts another bite.

But Tomari kicks him hard in the jaw, drawing blood, before he pushes him away.

This makes the Gnoll draw a bow and shoot his opponent in the shoulder.

"Halt! Anzai has used a lethal weapon. The only weapons allowed are weak ones that can't kill someone easily. This means disqualification! Tomari is the winner!"

Tomari raises his right fist in victory. He wanted to raise both, but the arrow is preventing him.

Thank goodness Leah is our contestant instead of me, Finn thinks.

Poe Dameron has made a camp on the Skull Cliff.

Seth is nearby, training his new skills to be able to use them at will.

So far, he is punching the ground as hard as he can, making increasingly bigger tremors.

"Careful!" Poe instructs. "You're making a crater, Seth, and you really do not want to punch through the ground too much!"

"Don't worry, General, I can handle myself."

BB-8 uses his improved sensors to immediately scan the ground Seth is on.

"BLEEP! BLEEP!"

"What's wrong?" Seth asks.

"You have about twenty meters before you make a hole. But considering the tremors you make, better stop at fifteen before the collateral damage dooms the place we are on," Poe explains.

Seth simply nods.

At the same time, Rocky watches over the campfire, being on the lookout for enemy reinforcements.

Seeing some of his troops playing checkers, he smiles at them before he decides to call Coruscant for more assistance.

In Greece, in Thessaloniki, Tashigi and Pan are talking.

"Pan, are you sure the Grand Line can handle itself now? Sure, the Ivory Corps are down and your homeworld is safe, but don't you remember the fact our world is in danger of sinking? It was one of the reasons we opposed the Tusks so openly, as they embraced the corrupt side of the Government that would let us all drown."

She pauses, remembering where Pan was during Vegapunk's broadcast that informed everyone of the brutal truth. "Please tell me your captivity did not isolate you from the world..."

Pan shakes his head. "It didn't. The day of the broadcast, the day everyone learned about Joyboy, Totto Land had a vicious quake. Several people were endangered. Turns out the quake was also everywhere else. When the broadcast started, Smoothie had gathered us all. Her siblings, her soldiers, even me."

He takes a deep breath. "She was doubting Vegapunk at first, until the late scientist told everyone about how the unnatural calamities the Grand Line is going through would cause quakes. Smoothie was completely hooked the moment she realized how accurate the prediction was. This also made her double down on protecting me from harm and especially the World Government."

"Tell me, do you miss Smoothie?" Tashigi asks, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Not much. While we did share a few good moments together, and I was treated somewhat well for a prisoner, I still love my freedom above all else. Besides, I hated having my knowledge end up in the wrong hands."

Pan hugs Tashigi. "Thank you for saving me."

"I will always try to do so, silly."

As the first battle of the third preliminary is starting, and it's between Terror Billy and a giant mountain of muscles named Ivan the Bear, who is blond, has blue eyes and is shirtless, Big Al's students observe the fight.

Terror Billy uses his Ki Bullets again, but Ivan coats his arms in red ki and blocks them.

Big Al is smiling. "This, my students, is a rare form of ki. Usually it's a product of raw anger, and it also has much more raw strength than normal ki. Whoever uses it is a powerful warrior."

Karn is listening, hoping to find a way to counter Ivan if he has to fight him.

Meanwhile, Tomari is with Finn, who is healing his arrow wound and only his arrow wound with the Force.

"Why are you doing this?" Tomari asks. "I've seen you cheering for that fast Native American girl. What if you are weakening her position right now?"

Finn shakes his head. "This is a tournament of honor, a way to test our limits without unfair assistance. I would rather see my friend struggle a bit more than have a hollow victory."

Besides, I feel something off around here, and it's not from this guy. If someone really is after the top martial artists, as I feared, I want them all to be able to stand up for themselves as much as they can.

Even Tomari's mask fails to hide his confusion.