In an alabaster castle:
A young man, nearly a boy, sat in a throne amongst shimmering white marble. “Well,“ he began, “It’s no Raftel, but it certainly is a great spot.” He began. “Yes your highness,” A voice came as a man clad in a black version of an admiral’s coat over a suit bearing a breast plate. His hair was an iron-gray, a black goatee framed his face, and his eyes dark and hooded. “Though, we still must find it if your plans are to work, Lord Leon.”
The young boy spat as if in rejection to the words. “Tis only a matter of time, and we have all we need.” He said. “You have been a great help to me as well admiral. But soon, all of our dreams will come true, once we have found One Piece.” The boy began chuckling manically as he gazed upon the army within his castle. “The day will come soon.”

Meanwhile, on the island of Frux:
A great festival was soon to be held for the bounty of fruit that had been produced on neighboring islands. They held this festival every year in order to spread the much needed fruit to those who need it, though some instead chose to sell the fruit instead to the highest bidders for a profit. The Marines had allowed this as it seemed that many black market deals were made on the island for the trade of Devil Fruit, and the easiest way to confiscate these fruits for the Marine’s use, was to convince the sellers to sell, for top dollar of course.
The sellers would usually not see the light of day, as it was a trap, but nary a soul suspected such a thing from the Marines. Because of this, many high ranking members of the Marines would arrive to the island, though due to its small size, only a select few would show up. Sometimes a traveling performance group would arrive as well, putting on a show for those arriving and earning a hefty sum as well.
Many travelers would come to share tales of their adventures and wealth, some of locations of supposed secrets, some to test their mettle against others. A few ships would even come in to look for new crew members, and on one rare occasion, pirates would attack the island, but that’s in the past.

On Frux, one day before the actual festival:
It was a regular day for Pan, as he left the barracks on his first off day in two weeks. It had been hard for him to do so as the festival was preparing to kick off tomorrow, and the fort would need all available hands for security. The island was a rather regular island, large enough to house a medium sized town and a Marine Fort. The Fort held around 200 marines including captains, and a small bunker for new recruits. It was a small island, back water some may even call it, but it was a step in the right direction for Pan. The only thing large about the town was its huge wharf and harbor, capable of taking 20 Marine Battle ships, and a company of smaller sail boats. He slowly explored the town as he took in the surroundings, a few booths and carts were strewn about throughout the town, the pubs were lively with chatter and the smell of alcohol in the air, and the streets were starting to fill with people, but only a few for now.

He went about the town normally and arrived at the Harbor, the blue skies and calm ocean made it look like a great day to be outside, or even go sail. He saw the various ships that had arrived, and noticed a few that looked odd, decorated by their crew perhaps. Various ships colored odd colors, one with a blue sail and mermaid relief carved in the front, another had a Skull with a mustache made of flexing arms, another a skull and crossbones with a fruit instead of a skull. So many odd ships, pirates perhaps?

"I know it's my day off...but-" He began before getting cut off.
"Hey you, Marine guy!" A slurring voice yelled at him.
"Hmm?" Pan turned towards the voice, a large muscular man with a mullet stood, his face blushed red from alcohol consumption.
"You think you're so tough? Hic! I'm Sa-sa-Samson!" The man seemed to stammer keeping himself from hurling. "The Strongest man in the seas. I've got a Bounty on my head of 500,000!"
Pan was confused, was the guy offering to turn himself in, or challenging him?
"So you and your five- er... 6...9... All your friends better get ready to beat me!" He said as he took a step forward and tripped over his own feet, falling and knocking himself out.
"Umm..." Pan said. "Are you alright?" He said. The snoring of the man calmed him slightly. However, he had to get the guy either to HQ or off the streets. He began to pull on the man's shoulders trying to drag him away, but to no avail.
"Need some help love?" A kind voice came from behind. Pan turned around and found a large smiling woman. She reached down and easily started pulling the man to the side.
"Thank you Ma'am. Is this guy a Pirate?" Pan asked. The woman laughed heartily.
"This guy can't even hold a pint of larger! No, he's a merchant like meself, but he likes to make a name for himself wherever he goes." She said.
"Oh, that's good. His bounty isn't real then?" Pan asked.
"No, he just says that to impress people. He's gonna get himself killed one of these days doing that." She said. "Sorry, name's Aida. I run the fruit ship, bringing needed Vitamins to sailors and islands alike."
"That's very generous of you Aida." Pan began. "Well, as long as he's safe, I guess I'll be going now." He said as he started walking off.
"Oi! Aida the fruit woman! I heard about your ship!" A scraggily voice came. "I'm here to buy all your fruit. My crews on the verge of scurvy." A large pale blue bearded male pirate said.
"Ugh. You again." Aida said, Pan turning to watch. "Look Bloo, I told you I'm not giving you that fruit. Besides, I have to give a fair amount of the rest of the fruit to all the other islands."
"Bloo?" Pan said, "As in Bloo the Blue beard?"
The pirate gave a hearty laugh as three more pirates soon flanked him.
"That's right, The Scariest Pirate in East Blue, and unlike our friend over there, I actually do have a 5,000,000 bounty. So you better run kid."

Pan was shocked. An actual pirate out in the open, with a sizable bounty on his head.
"No! I may be off duty, but it is my job to protect the people from Pirates." The pirate laughed and pulled out a pistol to Pan's head.
"Start running kid." Bluebeard said pulling the trigger. In that instant, Pan drew his sword, and then Samson had a sudden burst of consciousness in which he pushed the boy out of the way yelling, "No, he's my fight!" then passing out once more.

Pan crashed into the fruit cart, the pirates yelling as they drew weapons to attack Samson and Pan, when they all stopped. Pan looked up as the fruit began to fall on him. He opened his mouth wide in shock as the large melons and such began to pelt him. But the pirates stopped because a strange swirl patterned fruit began to fall, right into Pan's mouth.
All the pirates yelled in surprise as the fruit was swallowed whole. Aida was wide eyed!
“That was the special fruit I was hiding to give to the Captain at the Marines!” She yelled
Bluebeard quickly pulled the kid up and began punching him in the gut. "Spit it out! Spit it out!" He yelled, the third punch going straight through his stomach as the boy melted around his arm.
"Ugh! What kind of fruit did he eat?" Blue beard yelled as the new pile of goop moved around in confusion and began to try and reform.
“That’s the Puni Puni Fruit! It turns it’s user into a gooman!”
“What use would the Marines have for that?!” Blue beard yelled in confusion, before noticing the goo was now the lower half of Pan and began running.
"Quick boss, if you grab another fruit and kill him, the devil fruit might reincarnate in that."
"Right." Blue Beard yelled as he grabbed a melon off the ground. "First one to kill him, gets 20000 of my treasure! We’ll be rich if we get that devil fruit!" He yelled.
The three pirates ran towards the now fleeing goo legs and torso. Blue beard pulled his gun once more to fire, when Samson tackled him and fell asleep.
"Get, off me!" Bluebeard yelled as he tried to struggle out of the man's sleeping grasp. The other pirates continued without him. Aida ran after Pan.
“Wait! Come back!” Bluebeard yelled.
“No way, I’m not letting you kill that sweet boy. Besides, he’s a marine, I still have to collect my commission!” Aida yelled back as the chase continued.

Yes you could feel the excitement in the air, the buzzing energy of busyness and preparation that filled up even backwater towns like this one here on Frux the day before a big festival. That's what had drawn Birdy here along with so many others like he supposed flies would eventually be drawn to whatever left-over fruit hadn't been sold or eaten by the end of the island's famous festival! Well that and the fact that he was broke, starving and had nowhere to go other than here. The last fight he'd gotten in had ended with his puny raft of a so-called ship diced to pieces after he'd gotten a little too enthusiastic in fighting off the bounty hunters on his tail. But after two years of near-constantly being dogged by marines and money-chasing jerks like those he'd been understandably ticked off in his own opinion.

So after barely managing to drag himself ashore just a day ago 14-year-old Birdy D. Blade, perhaps one of the youngest swordsmen ever to earn a major bounty, was reduced to prowling the dockside of Frux like a hungry stray puppy. Matters were made even worse by the huge metal box slung over his shoulder constantly reminding him of nice hot bowls of soup as it weighed him down, though the container marked 'HI-SPEED DELIVERY' held no such thing.

"Guuuh~...gotta find, something to eat...anything..."

Unfortunately for him, it would still be a whole day before the festival began in earnest so it wasn't like there were already loads and loads of-

"FRUIT!~ AHAHAHAHA YES!~" There was a whole cartload of the stuff right in front of him, and there was suddenly so much commotion going on that there way no way anybody including the weird old pirate or the fruit lady would notice if he stole a fruit or six to munch on! Naturally, Birdy dove for the fruit cart ready to snatch some of the deliciousness for himself...but just then some jerk smashed right into the cart and sent all the fruit flying and tumbling!

"My...my precious chance at a meal...ruined..." Birdy mumbled to himself in despair, practically blue with shock. Not only did this guy wreck his first chance at food in two whole days, he had the nerve to turn into some kind of goop monster and start running off! That didn't even get into the irritating-ness of the weird old man shouting about-

"20,000?! That could buy me a whole 'nother cart of fruit all to myself! And meat! and RAMEN!~ That jerk's wearing a Marine uniform too, ooooh this is PERFECT!~" With that the short, spike-headed child joined in with the pursuit! Despite the big heavy metal box on his shoulders he dashed with surprising speed right toward the old, blue bearded guy, and as he tried to catch up with the mass of pirates chasing after Captain Mushy and he began swinging the massive 'Hi-Speed Delivery' box around by the straps to try and bludgeon them all out of the way!

"GET OUTTA MY WAY! THAT BIG MUSHY MEAL-TICKET IS ALL MINE!!"

The fact that he might either blow past or bash aside the man actually offering the money and his crew to get to the mushy marine barely even registered, so great was Birdy's hunger and childish enthusiasm.

"Ahh~ The sweet smell of the sea." A large muscled man muttered to himself, in his usual thick accent, as he leaned upon the railing of a fine merchant vessel. He was lucky to have caught a ride with the group as he was scheduled to preform at their destination. The island of Frux, a quaint little place that masks their big happenings below. For the annual fruit bounty festival, a grand event that drew people the world over, takes place here. There is almost too much to choose from during the festivities, hell you could get even the most exotic of Grand Line fruits around this time. Of course, this draws another type of fruit to the market in a much more sinister sense.

Lucky indeed the man was, for the seas had become less calm as time went on. A storm is brewing perhaps, and it certainly wouldn't have been wise to row all the way out here all on his own. Plus the company of merchant sailors and other hitchhikers is always lovely. Even upon the ocean of a coming storm, the waters had calmed this mustachioed entertainer. Ever since he had escaped from what was left of his plague ridden country, the ocean had always drawn out the anxiety and nervousness within him. Those years upon the circus ship were truly his happiest.

But this does not mean the man cannot have happier years ahead, besides he still feels great joy and takes immense pride in the performance of his strongman act. Whether it be great feats of strength to the daring do of audience challenges, there was something even more than the adulation of the act. Perhaps it amiable familiarity that his audience grew with him. No, it must have been the feeling that he experienced during the first performance of the circus that he saw as a child, the hope for the future that it instilled within him, the betterment of troubles once had, the pure and raw power of. . .

"LAAAAAAAAND HOOOOOOO!"

The piercing bellow of the ships navigator shook the muscled man from his deep thought. Had so much time passed already? And just as it was said, the quaint wooded isle of Frux sat just upon the horizon. The large marine encampment prominently stuck up, rising above the rest of the harbor town below. With a short sigh the strongman gather up his pack and readied himself for departure, and the many other passengers did much of the same.

Finally as the gangplank lowered upon the docks those aboard began to disembark. With another thanks to the captain of the vessel the foreign man strided onto land. The smell of the sea still fresh in his nostrils, and the hustle and bustle just before the festivals coming, "Alright Axel, what to do today? Some sightseeing?" He spoke to himself as he tends to do, enjoying the relative peacefulness upon the isle of Frux. Perhaps he would find a nice meal for his rumbling stomach, maybe he'd enjoy a nice walk in the woods, or possibly even. . .

"GET OUTTA MY WAY! THAT BIG MUSHY MEAL-TICKET IS ALL MINE!!"

Again that solemn mountain of thought was stricken back to reality as he spots an impossibly odd pile of goo slinking off with a young child in tow. And just behind them, a scurvy group of furious sea dogs. Never a dull moment that he can relax in it seems.

Seth sighed as he walked out of a tavern. Yet again he tried to find pirates who would hire him and again he was shot down by their laughter. It was mostly due to his appearance. He didn’t look his age. He looked more like a teenager then an adult. It wasn’t his fault he looked so young. Yet he simply sighed again and wondered the streets of Frux. Since coming here he spent three days trying to find any crew that would hire him. His fear of not being able to accomplish his assignment was starting to set in.

He did everything: he drank the discussing ale that was served in the taverns; he tried acting cocky like all the pirates in the tavern. Hell he even got into a fist fighting match with a pirate. Nothing was working. The fact that he would need to try again and taste the ale again nearly made him puke. How they could stomach the stuff was beyond him. The ale tasted like sewer water mixed with days old eggs. Seth heard a commotion followed by a gun shot. He had gotten use to the various noises in the village from the up and coming festival, but a gun shot was new. He raced towards the noises,

He saw a goo legs and torso run past him and as he looked towards where it had ran from. He saw a bunch of pirates. One was being Blue Beard, a well-known patriate with a massive bounty on his head. His first instance was to calm to be from the navy, but then he realized he would compromise his mission. Hell, what do I do? Maybe act like a noble pirate and stop him. Sure, me, stopping Blue Beard? Next I’ll be taking One Piece for myself. Crap, what do I do? Seth thought.

“Guess I got one option,” Seth muttered before he turned to Blue Beard. This is going down as the most stupidest thing I’ve done! Seth thought before said, “So the famous Blue Beard out in the open. Guess it’s my lucky day. I’ll cash in your bounty and live like a king.” He tried to act cocky and sure of himself but anyone with a brain could see he was faking. That’s when Seth noticed the other pirates. Oh come on! More of them! Seth thought. He was starting to wonder if he should just follow the goo and run as well.

From the one of the taller buildings in Frux, Sid watched the events take place that lead to BlueBeard to speak up about the bounty on the man made of goo. Sid had not cared about anything else going on besides BlueBeard. He needed to take him down and prove himself to the world at large. Making a name for himself would ensure that World Government would take notice and so would other pirates. He could amass a crew strong enough to shatter the foundation of the very world and end the tyranny of the Marines. For now though Sid would stop the bounty of the goo man and fight back against BlueBeard. Sid jumped from the building like a hawk diving for it's food.

"Catfish DROPKICK!"

Water morphed around his leg in the shape of a giant catfish. Combined with the water based attack of Fishman Muay Thai Sid's flying kick connected with explosive fury against the face of one of the pirates. The pirate flew backwards into a group of the men that wanted to take the bounty that BlueBeard proposed. Sid landed behind the mushy man and stood as a wall between the mushy man and the individuals that wanted to take the bounty.

"You bastards aren't taking this bounty unless you get through me. I, Barbossa Sid, Son of the Strongest Fishman in the World, won't let you harm one hair on this man's head." Sid spoke confidently to everyone with a grin on his face.

"Get out of my w---" One of the pirates thought to walk forward and press Sid only to be met with a crushing elbow to the nose knocking the man to his butt.

"BLUEBEARD! I'LL BREAK YOU AND PROVE I'M THE SUPERIOR CAPTAIN! ANYONE WILLING TO HELP, I'LL MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE! JOIN MY CREW AND BECOME THE GREATEST CREW TO ROAM THE SEAS!" Sid pointed toward BlueBeard with his fist closed.

Pan on the run

"GET OUTTA MY WAY! THAT BIG MUSHY MEAL-TICKET IS ALL MINE!!"
Pan heard behind him as a pirate was sent flying ahead of him. He hopped over the unconscious body and continued running, his head finally reforming.
"I gotta find a way to get away fast!" He yelled to himself as he looked back, seeing now, a sizable crowd on his heels, that crazy kid right behind him, swinging that...delivery box? That's what it looked like. He yelled in fear even louder speeding up as quickly as he could. He came up on a series of alleys and streets he knew he could try to lose some of his pursuers.
"Ah! Pan! What happened to your arms!?" A pair of Marines asked as he ran past.
"No time to explain! Help me!" He yelled running past them.
"You got it!" one of the two replied as they drew their swords, charged...and were promptly defeated, flying into the air as they were run over by the stampede.
"Oh crap! This is bad. I didn't even like the fruit! It tasted awful!" Pan yelled as he ran with eyes closed tightly, turning down a street quickly and feeling a sudden human shaped object in his way. He felt a strange feeling as he made contact and felt himself seem to shrink slightly.
As he came to, he found himself on the ground, his mouth moving automatically,
"Watch where you're going!"
He realized he hadn't meant to say those words, he hadn't even thought them. Then his eyes were opened once more and he found his mouth move once more.
"Where'd that blue haired-" his mouth was cut short as his gaze went down to a pile of marine clothes, as well as his weapons on his lap, his body now changed. He was instead, a woman, about an inch shorter than him he guessed, but he couldn't control anything going on. The scantily clad woman was wearing a purple bikini top and a pair of leather pants, a strand of brown hair reached the edge of his vision. His gaze looked up as the crowd passed by, a pirate stopping and asking him if an armless marine came through. The woman he was currently in freaked out and jumped dropping the clothes.
"Ah! There's a naked Marine running around here somewhere!" She yelled.
The pirate freaked out at the shouting girl and took off afraid of getting into any kind of trouble. He doubted anything would happen, but when a girl yells at you, you just start running. The girl looked down at the pile once more and picked it up folding the clothes.
"Eww, this is so gross. He ran straight into me too!" She said. You have no idea. Pan thought to himself. The girl then looked towards the fort.
"I guess I should report this up there." She said as she headed that way. She saw a few more marines run past her yelling about pirates. She wasn't worried though. There were plenty of Marines here to deal with pretty much any threat, so she thought.

Pan sat quietly thinking about his predicament, and it wasn't until the girl made it to the gates of the fort that he even thought of trying to get out of her. He watched her get stopped by the marines and he tried to move her body to get their attention, but nothing happened.
"Yeah, he crashed into me, and all that was left was this. I think he ran off." She said as she placed the things down for the guards to take.
"Thank you very much Ma'am. No worries, he'll be punished for the problems hes caused, and we'll get his stuff back to him. Now, for the report, I need you're name." The guard said.
"Oh, it's Umi. Umi Iruka." She said.
"Alright, take care ma'am." The guard said as he wrote the name down. Umi walked off and turned by the gate on her way back to the town.
Alright Pan, think. Relax, you can find your way out of this right? Just...Relax... Pan told himself. Suddenly, he felt himself melt once more as he slid off Umi's body. As he sat as a pile of goo once more, Umi suddenly collapsed exhausted. Pan reformed much more quickly than last time, and stood by the fence and gate. He's just lucky that no one was there to see him. He sighed and turned towards the gate ashamed, as he hung his head ashamed.
"Hey guys!" He yelled as he approached the guards.
"Oh, Mrs. Iruka! Was there something else?"
"Iruka?" Pan asked before looking down at himself. He was an exact copy of the girl he had just basically been. "Woah!" He said in astonishment.
"Mrs. Iruka?" The guards asked him.
"Oh, um..." Pan said beginning to sweat. "I, uh, think I know the guy actually. I just remembered I told him to go to my house." Pan said scratching the back of his borrowed head. "So I thought I could just take the stuff back to him."
The guards were confused. "Um. Sure. Do you still want us to report him then?"
"No, thank you though. Later!" He said snatching the pile quickly and leaving. He turned and sighed heavily against the fence before staring down at the unconscious Umi.
"Oh crap, please don't be dead!" He yelled.
"Mrs. Iruka!?" The guards yelled as they ran around the fence. Pan quickly jumped into the bushes, and watched them awaken Umi. She said she must've fainted and began her walk back to town, the guards waving politely as they returned to their stations.
"What do I do now?" Pan asked himself as he stepped out of the bushes and looked at his clothes.

On the Docks:
Bluebeard began to laugh, the unconscious man on his back wobbling back and forth from the laughs, before being pushed off Bluebeard's back. Bluebeard stood smiling.
"You truly believe that a brat like you can beat me? What a joke." He said cracking his knuckles and neck.
"I'm not worth 5,000,000 Berries for nothing you know. I'm what they call a fishman killer. Men, Women, even children are no concern of mine. Whatever is in the way, I kill it. Normally my bounty would be higher, but with so many new fish showing up in my pond, the bounties have changed a bit." He said. "Taste my steel!" He yelled as he pulled from his belt a cutlass, strangely inlaid with what appeared to be a revolver. He then charged the boy trying to stop him from getting that devil fruit.

A bit into the town:
The pirates were surprised by the appearance of a half fishman. At least, that's what they assumed he was after pulling off an attack like that. "You're gonna pay for that you little runt!" One of the Pirates yelled as he charged with his cutlass. However, he was stopped by another man who had joined the group after the 20,000 Berry man.
"Allow me. I've always wanted to try my hand at hand to hand combat with someone who knew Fishman Muay Thai." He said. The man was in a pure white Gi, a black headband and belt constrasting the color. "Can you face my Dragon Style Rising Fist?" He asked as he got into a fighting stance.
Meanwhile further in, a strange man with a black, greasy pompadour haircut stood in the way of the now charging mob. He held with him, a long metal brief case.
"Excuse me, but I'm looking for a certain young swordsman. I heard he sparred with my uncle at one point in his journey, and I'm here to return the favor." He said. "I am Gai Daichoju of the Daichoju Family, and I am ready to test my skills." He proclaimed producing a Nodachi from his case.

At The Fort:
A marine quickly ran into the office of the head captain of the Fort.
"Sir. Forgive the Intrusion, but we have a bit of a problem!" The nameless marine yelled.
The captain sipped from his cup of tea, and poured for the other two figures in the room.
"Oh, uh, forgive me sir. I didn't realize that you were entertaining guests." The marine said.
"It's fine." The captain said coldly. "State your business."
"Well, you see sir, we've got a problem in town. It seems that Bluebeard has arrived on the island and started trouble."
"Ah, bluebeard is here?" He said with a hint of curiosity.
"Yes sir. Reports state that the Fruit Woman who was to sell the Devil Fruit to the Marines got into trouble with him, and one of our Marines was in the crossfire. He ate the fruit sir."
The Captain's eyebrow and voice raised.
"What? Find him! We need that fruit. What was his name?"
"It's a new recruit sir, Pan something."
The captain put his hand to his face in irritation.
"And with tomorrow being the festival. Great. Hopefully we won't have to quarantine the island to find him. Do you two think you can handle this?" He asked his guests. "Cpt Walter, Vice Cpt Francis?"
The two guests nodded and left the room.
The captain stroked his mustache and bald head in thought. "Such a pain." He said.

Seth quickly jumped back from the cutlass. Great, another pirate that brags about his bounty to people as if anyone actually cares. Just have to hold him off so who ever they’re chasing can get away safely and the navy can get here. Seth thought. He didn’t like the fact that he would have to use his Devil Fruit powers so quickly but he didn’t have a choice. Dodging would only lead to an opening for Bluebeard to run after the goo kid.

“Hopefully that kid is heading towards the fort. He should be safe there,” Seth mumbled to himself before he lifted his arms. both started to change into a sliver liquid before suddenly hardening into a sort of armor.

“Metal Gantlets,” Seth said before he readied himself for Bluebeards next attack. Just got to hold him off until help comes. Luckily no one from the navy here knows me. I hope, otherwise my cover will be blown. Seth thought before he took a deep breath and said, “I don’t care how you got your bounty. All I know is: if I get rid of you. I’ll make a name for myself and be one step closer to become a legendary pirate.” Once again his lie sounded forced like he truly didn’t believe it himself

Pirates stepped up to Sid and felt the force of a Fishman/Human Hybrid. An elbow to face felled one man followed by a smooth dodge that lead to a kick to the stomach of another man. As he fought off the men that wanted the bounty, Sid never took his eyes from the man in the Gi. There had been a period of time that Sid had not been able to test his abilities on a worthy opponent and he hoped this guy was able to handle himself. "Fine. I'll give it my all. GET READY!" Sid grabbed one of the pirates by their hair and swung their face downward into a powerful knee strike that sent the pirate flying backwards, blood splattering the ground from his nose. Sid took no moment of reprieve and dashed forward at the man in the Gi.

"KNEE OF THE HAMMERHEAD SHARK!" Sid roared at this opponent. Water molecules coalesced together into the very shape of a hammerhead shark swimming in the air around Sid's knee. He jumped high into the air until his knee was in position to strike the man's face. Speed and power was the name of the game for Sid.

Birdy was about to show that weird loudmouthed water-punching guy what happened to people who got between him and food, but before he could some guy with a nodachi started saying something about a sparring match and his uncle. Despite all the chaos going on around them Birdy was pretty sure what this was: A challenge! Well, if he was ever going to be a strong enough swordsman for guys like this to stop challenging him in the first place there was no way he could turn down something like that!

"RIGHT! GET READY, 'CAUSE I'M COMIN' AT Y-!"

Before the short swordsman could start his charge or finish his sentence his grumbling stomach interrupted and he slumped to one knee for a moment, before hastily trying to pretend it never happened. Instead he rushed at the rather polite opponent before him and the lid of the Hi-Speed Delivery box popped open to launch two unsheathed dao into the air. Birdy leaped up and grabbed both swords in mid-air and slashed at the nodachi-wielder with the dual blades as he descended.

"TAKE THIS!!!~ MY INFINITE SWORD-SWAP STYLE! FORM 3: DUAL DAO!"

The fact that his strikes were much slower and weaker than normal tickled the back of his mind, but hopefully it wouldn't matter now.

Sansho Hono, the man who wishes to become the strongest:

Sansho, the martial artist, awaited the man's knee to come close to his face, before finally moving to counter.
"Dragon Upper!" He yelled as he jumped through the visage of the hammerhead, jumping above his attacker. Sansho turned around with a spinning kick. "Dragon Gale!" He yelled as he began to spin with the kick, becoming like a top.

Gai Daichoju Master of the Gull Turn Slash:

Gai watched as his opponent jumped into the air, grabbing the two curved swords, and falling towards him in a flurry of attacks. Gai readied himself, throwing his scabbard before turning his back and blocking the swords.
"I am the master of the Gull Turn Slash." he said as he pushed back with his full body force, still with his back to Birdy. "This is why." He said before spinning quickly, making a quick X slash towards Birdy at a blinding speed.

Bluebeard, man of 1001 kills:

Bluebeard stopped himself as he saw the metallic armor form around the boys arms.
"You've eaten of the devil fruit. That's just the BEST for me!" He said angrily, yet also somehow happily.
"If I kill you, and the mushy marine, I'll have two fruits to sell!" He said. He slashed at a slow speed to allow for a block, deliberately aiming for the arms of the boy. As it would make contact, he pulls the trigger of his blade, the resulting explosion causing his sword to vibrate quickly, acting more like a chainsaw. He hoped it would slash through the boys metal. Perhaps he wished for too much. But Old Bluebeard always has a few tricks up his sleeve. After all, he has 1001 kills to his name.

The bushes of the Fort:

"Oh man!" Pan said with his eyes tightly shut, trying to redress himself in his old clothes. They fit surprisingly well. He had tried not to see or touch anything he didn't mean to as he re-clothed himself, eventually putting his new hair through the hole in his hat.
"Alright. That wasn't too bad." Pan began as he stepped out of the bushes. "Now, I have to find a way to get back to my old self." He said to himself as he headed back to town.
"Hopefully no one recognizes me like...this." He said as he motioned towards himself.

Sid smirked as Sansho escaped the attack. He was a slippery one and Sid liked that. Though dodging one attack didn't mean the man would be strong enough to take a hit or do much more. The Fishman Hybrid stomped his feet into the earth below, dust raising into the air from the force of his legs. He looked up at Sansho who was now spinning like a top with his foot forward. Sansho's attack closed in, Sid sidestepped to his right, reached his right hand upward to grab Sansho by his leg and stop the man in mid spin. Using gravity to help, Sid would pull Sansho downward faster to miss with his reactions. A swift elbow flew forward with Sid still giving a smirk to Sansho.

Seth quickly jumped back from Bluebeard’s attack. He had only created the gauntlets, just in case he needed a last minute defense. What he was really doing was stalling for time so the navy could come and take care of Bluebeard. He didn’t want his cover blown and also wanted to make sure whoever Bluebeard was chasing got away safely. He feared Bluebeard would run after the kid if Seth continued to avoid his attacks, so his only other option was to anger Bluebeard. Well, here goes nothing. Seth thought.

“So, that’s all you got? I’m beginning to think your bounty is nothing more than a fluke. Hell, Whitebeard would have finished me off by now and the fat Blackbeard would have too. I guess I picked the wrong pirate to make a name for myself. Oh well, maybe you’re all bark and no bite,” Seth said with a smile. Come on, take the bait. Seth thought. He was worrying that the navy wouldn’t show up and he’d need to rethink his plan, but he had faith in them. he just needed a little more time.