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Ah, Karate Island. Another new place for Nicholas to get him self acquainted with. While the rest of his new 'crew' had their own business to attend to, the upcoming pirate had decided to take in the sights. After all, a good pirate always knew about the different islands of the world, as well as keep up with current events. He kept a small notebook tucked into the pocket of his coat, just incase he needed to write something down. But for now, things seemed pretty quiet. Pretty standard. Apparently this island was well known for the martial artists it produces. Pretty obvious for a place called "Karate Island", so it really wasn't worth noting. Thankfully this place didn't really have much of a marine presence, so he could walk out in the open without any fear. His flashy coat did attract some attention though, but not enough to cause him any trouble.

As he walked down the street, something caught his eye. A flyer of sorts, stuck to the wall. It didn't look like a wanted poster, but something about it made it stand out.


Nicholas read the date, seeing that this tournament was going to be starting today! Thankfully there were still a couple more hours until the deadline for registration. The young man pondered for a moment. He considered himself a pretty decent fighter in his own right, even though for the most part it was self taught. Maybe he could sign up for this thing, see how he held up against some of this village's finest. Something about the chance to show off his skills in front of a crowd got the man's blood pumping. A large grin spread across his face, before quickly being repressed (lest someone see him and think he was a lunatic).

With a swagger in his step, and whistling a jaunty tune, Nicholas continued down the street, heading towards the village square. In a couple of hours, a show was about to begin.

Nicholas was hopping in place, his heart pumping and his blood running. He had managed to sign up for the competition, and was now waiting for his turn to come up. There had been a couple of matches already. So far the competition seemed pretty impressive. No weaklings to be seen. Then again, did this island have any weaklings at all? After all, one would think that with so many martial artists here, there would be plenty of sparring partners to train with.

Not that Nicholas was nervous or anything. Hell, if he got nervous easily, he wouldn't have left home.

Nicholas Edison, you're up!"

At the mention of his name, the man almost sprang into the ring. However, he stopped himself and took a deep breath, burying his excitement. The rule with these things was to look cool. Act like you've got everything under control. With his hands in his pockets, he swaggered into the ring. "Ladies and gentlemen," spoke up the announcer, "All the way from the North Blue, we have Nicholas Edison!" With a flourish, Nicholas pulled off his coat and threw it to the side. Oddly enough, there were very little people cheering for him. Trust them to root for the home team.

Then the ground seemed to shake as Nicholas' opponent entered the arena. The guy was huge! And not muscular either. The man's stomach was wider than he was tall (and since he was eight feet tall, that was saying something). He was shirtless too, letting the fat rolls breath, his hair cut short in a buzz cut. "And now, from the Eastern Village, weighing a whopping 600 pounds, Boulder Kizaka!" The crowd roared as Kizaka flexed his arms, not that he had any muscles to show off. He looked down at the smaller pirate, giving him a smirk. "Try not to hurt yourself little man." Nicholas gave a small smirk in return. "Be careful yourself. This is a fighting competition, not an all you could eat buffet."

Kizaki's smirk immediately vanished as the bell rang, being replaced by a look of surprise, followed by an angry sneer. Apparently he wasn't too keen on people mocking his weight. With a low growl, he lunged forward, trying to grab hold of his opponent. However, being both smaller and a hell of a lot lighter, Nicholas was able to slip underneath his arms, quickly ducking behind him and lashing out with a kick. Kizaki's fat rippled as the blow caused him to stagger. built in padding. Should have seen that coming. Kizaki turned around, snarling as he tried to spin and grab him. However, much like the first time, it failed to connect, and the sudden turn caused him to stumble over and fall.

Nicholas smiled. "Well, looky here. The one part of you that isn't fat." Before Kizaki could respond, Nicholas lashed out with a kick, connecting painfully to the side of the man's head. Apparently Kizaki had never had a head shot landed on him, because that seemed to be all it took to bring him down...again. The crowd was silent, watching in amazement as their favourite just got beaten. Nicholas looked around before a smile spread across his face. "Guess that's a wrap people!"

"Erm," even the announcer apparently didn't expect that, "The winner, is Nicholas Edison!"

With the first rounds of the competition over, it was time for the second round of bouts to begin. While Nicholas was happy to have gotten into the next round, he couldn't help but feel like his first fight had been a bit, well, easy for him. After all, the guy had pretty much taken himself out for him. Disappointing really.

It wasn't long before his turn came up once again. While he tried to keep his swagger on, he couldn't help but have a little bounce in his step. At least a few more people cheered for him this time. Guess he made a good impression during his last bout. Setting his coat down on the side, he waited for his next opponent to enter the arena. To be honest, he was quite surprised.

The man, while a bit on the chubby side, was definitely thinner than Kizaki. What stood out though was the light yellow skin, and the fins on his head for forearms. A fishman, here on Karate Island? Guess they could be everywhere. After all, they are humanoid fish.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, we have Nicholas Edison, versus, Fugu Trine!"

As the bell rang, Fugu made a move and charged towards Nicholas. This time however, he wasn't just lumbering towards him, determined to deliver a precise strike. Nicholas wasn't going to dodge this time. He was going to respond in kind. He lept forward, lashing out to kick Fugu square in the chest.

Only for the fishman to suddenly puff up like a balloon, knocking the man back and almost out of the arena. Are you kidding me? A pufferfishman? Why am I always paired up against fat guys!? As Nicholas climbed back to his feet, Fugu let out a deep laugh as his body deflated. Seems like every time Nicholas would attack him, he could just blow back up and knock him back, and if he was knocked out of the arena...

Yeah, like hell Nicholas was going to allow that to happen. One of his good points was the fact that he was smarter than the average fighter.

Fugu shot forward, determined to strike him and possibly knock him out of the arena. Instead of blocking or striking back, Nicholas lept up into the air, with the fishman stepping underneath him. The man came down, ready to stomp on the fishman's back, only for the fishman to predictably inflate himself. However this time, Nicholas was ready. Bouncing atop of him like a trampoline, Nicholas landed directly behind the blown up fishman, and before even giving his opponent to turn around, delivered a sharp kick to his inflated back. Knocked off balance and with his body round like a ball, all fugu could do was flail uselessly as his body rolled out of the arena, the audience moving aside to avoid the living ball.

Standing in the middle of the ring, Nicholas simply couldn't help but make a joke about this. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have found a way to combine bull fighting with bowling! Unfortunately I had to use a fishman as a substitute." A number of people in the audience chuckled at the joke as the announcer finally took his eyes off the rolling fishman and spoke.

"And the winner, by ring out, Nicholas Edison!"

Two more rounds to go, and the title was his! Nicholas was barely containing his excitement, and almost exploded with glee as the announcer called for him to enter the ring. The blonde bounced in, throwing his coat aside and turning to see who his opponent was. And really, he couldn't be happier.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, in the semi finals, the love lotus of combat, Chikari Miyota!"

His opponent was a very lovely woman, slender, well muscled, and red and gold clothing that was not only practical, but also showed off her form perfectly. God, if you're there, thank you so much!

The bell rang, and both combatants shot towards eachother. Both lashed out with kicks, their legs clashing in the air, almost like swords. "Ah, a fellow kicker huh? Nice to meet you," Nicholas said. Flashing the girl with a playful smile. Her return smile was equally playful, though there was something about her eyes. "Strange, you don't have the face of one," she replied, "Allow me to fix that!" She suddenly lashed out with her other leg, spinning in the air and catching Nicholas right in the face. The pirate yelled out, stumbling back and clutching his nose. Ok, no more mister Nice Nick.

Chikari shot forward and lashed out with a kick. Nicholas took the blow firmly to the side, wrapping one of his legs around the limb to hold it in place. With an irritated grunt, she attacked with the other, only for him to grab hold of the other. The woman tried to struggle as Nicholas held onto her by the legs. "Let go!" Nicholas smirked. "You're right. I don't look like a kicker. That's because I diversify myself. As I shall demonstrate!" Holding tight, he began to spin n place, swinging the woman around and around. Chikari cried out, getting dizzy before suddenly Nicholas let her go. The woman went flying, out of the ring and landing atop some poor sap who was now getting a rather good view up the dizzy woman's skirt.

"You're very welcome!" Nicholas called out to the man as the bell rang to signify the end of the match.

[b]"The winner, by ring out, Nicholas Edison!"[\b]

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. The final round for the North Village Martial Arts Tournament! And it's certainly been a show. Our first finalist, from the North Blue, give it up for Nicholas Edison!"

The crowd cheered as Nicholas stepped into the ring. He threw off his coat with a flourish, arms wide out to receive the applause.

"And now, from the southern beaches, a long time contender and grand teacher, Tayu Vong!" The crowd roared as a short, old man with a long, white beard stepped into the ring. There was no flare or dramatics, but a quiet dignity. Watching the old man, Nicholas slipped into a combat stance. He had learnt enough stories about old men kicking ass in martial arts to know full well not to underestimate him.

The bells rang and Nicholas shot forward, swinging a kick aimed at he old man's head. However, Tayu quickly brought an arm up, blocking the strike with very little effort. Nicholas wasn't going to pause to take this in. He lashed out with kick after kick, only for his attempts to be blocked by the old man.

"Ah, the energy of youth."

Suddenly, Nicholas felt a hand slam into his sternum, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to roll back. Thankfully he managed to recover, one hand resting on his stomach as he looked up at the old man, who was now slowly walking towards him. Nicholas didn't even see the strike coming! He knew this fight was going to be hard, but holy hell!

Nicholas shot forward, continuing his assault. However, the old man was moving faster than he could almost see, able to dodge his attacks and countered with a second blow to the sternum. Pain shot through Nicholas's torso as he stumbled back, his midsection throbbing. He jumped back to put distance between them, the old man still slowly advancing.

"Unfortunately, it seems that energy isn't quite focused enough for this sort of thing," Tayu continued as he approached. Nicholas took a moment to try to calm his mind and think this through. Straight up assaults weren't working, and every time he attacked, the old man countered with exact precision. Focused energy huh? Very well, let's try it your way. he waited, waiting for the old man to approach, watching his every move, looking at him with eyes he normally reserved for when he was putting a piece of machinery together.

Then, when the old man was in reach, he struck, his arm shooting forward to aim at Nicholas's midsection. Nicholas suddenly reacted, shifting his body to the side, his foot lashing out at the man's exposed side. The foot connected, knocking the old man off balance. Ok, time for focus over! With his opponent off balance, Nicholas let loose a flurry of kicks, striking the man over and over again. He was putting all his energy into hitting him as fast and often as he could. Finally, he finished up with a hard kick straight to the old man's chin, causing him to flip over in the air before crashing into the floor. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see if the old man would get up, but he didn't.

Finally, the bell rang out. "There you have it ladies and gentlemen! The winner, by knockout, and the new champion, is Nicholas Edison!" The crowd let out a roar of applause. Nicholas couldn't help but smile and give a flashy bow. [color=red]"Thank you! Thank you very much! I'm here all week!"[color]