Raphael had somehow found his way to Las Camp, a chain of Islands in the West blue. He had heard in a tavern back in Yotsuba that there was going to be a illegal tournament going on. There wasn't necessarily a prize for the winner minus a couple Beli and bragging rights. Raphael only had one thought however, he wanted to get some training in and what was the best kind of training? Battling strong opponents. This was all he knew besides your average strength and conditioning training, but the golden eyed pirate was far to lazy to figure out a appropriate training regimen. When he was on his home island the man had only fought Ro as well as the various wildlife on that island. Majority of these islands in Las Camp were uninhabited so it was the perfect place for this tournament. Raphael traced the island that had been specified as the battle ground until he came across other people who had been there for the same reason obviously. There was a large group and it extremely unorganized.

Without warning a voice could be heard on  a large den den mushi. "Let the battle begin!" The words from the faceless voice sent the crowd into a frenzy. It appeared this was no more than a battle royal. Raphael smiled and took off towards the person closest to him. His path however was cut off by a large muscular with what appeared to be a Gatling Gun for a right hand. "Where're you going in such a rush!"  Without another word the burly man raised his right letting off a volley of shots at Raphael. As the shell casing hit the floor Raphael had begun bobbing and weaving through the rapid fire attack of Duke. The bullets that had been raining down on Raphael were missing their target but finding different homes in the other participants of the battle royal. "Slippery little bastard!" Duke shouted as Raphael got closer to him. " That or your aim is just bad." Raphael snapped back just as he managed to reach Duke. Raphael quickly sent a devastating left and right to Duke's solar plexus.

Duke acted as though Raphael's attack effected him, but in reality it didn't. "You'll have to hit harder than that pipsqueak. I'm not just s normal person!" Duke once again raised his Gatling gun hand, but this time he attempted to hit the golden eyed Raphael in the head. His movements were fast, but Raphael was slightly faster; most likely due to the mans size. Raphael jumped back putting distance between him and the man. At this point the other contestants had been keeping their distance from the two fighters. While Raphael was jumping back Duke had raised his right arm and ejected his hand from it; the fist rocketed towards Raphael hitting him in the chest. The attack caused a thunderous sound to ring through the battle royal. Raphael was sent skipping across the ground like a rock that was skipped across a body of water. The golden eyed pirate quickly recovered but spit some blood from his mouth.  Raphael began to analyze Duke; it was obvious that the man had modified his body to become a cyborg. He would have to find the parts that were still human.

This feat however would have to be done through trail and error; something which Raphael had no time for. Raphael would once again dart towards the burly man. This time snatching a knife from the pocket of one of the battle royal combatants who had fallen to the Gatling of Duke. At this point Duke retracted his arm had once again began his volley of bullets. As history repeated itself Duke was becoming increasingly agitated; once the man realized he had wasted all his ammo on a target he couldn't seem to hit he decided to charge Raphael. The brute assumed he could overpower Raphael who although was fit had a slim fram. Raphael smirked slightly at the mans foolish behavior. Duke had been better off keeping Raphael at a distance, but considering his depleting ammo the small minded giant did not have much of a choice. He foolishly attempted to launch his fist at Raphael, who although was caught off guard by the attack once refused to let it happen again. Raphael used the fist as board to spring himself into the air in order to flip over the large man.

Due to his size and the fact he had just over extended his retractable arm the battle royal contestant was in a bad situation. Raphael planned on taking full advantage of this fact, while Duke was still out of sorts Raphael began slashing at the mans back with his looted knife. Raphael wasn't exactly skilled with a knife, but he knew enough to effectively hurt or kill someone with it. Well you could say he had the basic of knowledge of using a knife just like most people would. Some parts of Dukes back had been mechanical while others had been gashed open by the sharp blade. Duke roared in pain; having retracted his arm Duke swung his arms back in a desperate attempt to swat Raphael away from him. Raphael ducked under the mans arm and began to repeat the process of marking up Duke's side with the knife. The knife slide across the side of Duke, but all that could be heard was metal to metal as sparks were created from the clash. Raphael immediately moved to the front of his over sized opponent.

As if poetry in motion Raphael repeated his process again. The front of Duke was similar to his back as there were some parts effected by the knife and others that weren't. As moved higher aiming for the mans neck, Duke would begin flailing in a desperate attempt to get the pesky Raphael out of his vicinity. Raphael jumped back a good distance and began staring at Duke like a predator who had worn down its prey. Raphael had found the mans weakness all be it the weakness of every human being. It seemed as though Duke had taken the cheap route in obtaining his mechanical figure. This would prove to be his downfall in his bout with the animalistic Raphael. The golden eyed pirate dashed towards Duke placing the knife between his teeth. Feeling as though his life was in danger Duke began acting erratically. He recklessly swung at Raphael as the rookie pirate closed in on him. Raphael jumped though the air vaulting over the arm of Duke; the attacking Raphael then kicked the over zealous attacker in the throat causing the giant to drop to one knee. Raphael moved quickly removing the knife from his mouth and began repeatedly stabbing the disoriented Duke in the throat until the man feel to the ground; with the life completely drained out of him.

Raphael sighed slightly as he stood up from the corpse. He had slightly worn himself out from his choice in tactic, but the golden eyed man was not out of the battle zone yet. Seeing how he had just taken down Duke, a man who had appeared unbeatable the remaining contestants decided to surround Raphael. They had make a census and would rather jump Raphael giving each of them a better chance to win individually. It was the basic principle of the enemy of my enemy is my best friend and in this case everyone was enemies with Raphael. Raphael looked to each one of the men that began to surround him. The herd had thinned by a large margin, as not that many people surround the young pirate. "I'm tired from this over sized action figure, but none of you are strong enough to beat me." The fatigue could be slightly heard in the voice of Raphael. While speaking the men began closing in on him; Raphael darted to his left and quickly disposed of two of the remaining 15 combatants, himself included in that number. Two of the men that were close to the duo had daggers drawn and began attacking in unison, Raphael effectively dodged the attacks, but got his arms and chest cut in the process. While evading the attack from the front a large man with a equally as large axe attacked Raphael from behind. Raphael could hear the heavy set mans footsteps and ducked under his attack. The other two weren't as lucky however the axe would split them both in half. Raphael quickly turned and stabbed the ace wielding man in the neck with the same knife he had used to dispose of Duke with. The rest of the men began to hesitate in attacking Raphael because how effortlessly he had just disposed of the five men who attacked him. The remaining royal combatants began dropping their weapons, deciding to drop out if the contest in order to preserve their lives. Once the last of the men were out of sight the den den mushi would come alive once again. "Congratulations Raphael Vega. You are the winner of the battle royal. Stayed tuned for information on the next round." The transmission would end immediately following 'round'. Raphael would move to a different area within the general circumference of the battle royal.

Word Count: 1,551
40 stamina points Earned