The Momoiro Kingdom did not lack for dramatic flair.
Following Caroline's enthusiastic invitation, the Straw Hat Pirates were led into the very heart of the vibrant, aggressively pink island. Past the strange, pastel-colored flora and the towering candy-cane-striped mountains, they arrived at the grand martial arts colosseum of the Kamabakka Kingdom.
It was a massive, open-air arena carved entirely out of pink marble. The floor was a perfectly smooth, circular sparring ring spanning over a hundred meters in diameter. Surrounding the ring were tiered stadium seats, currently filling up with hundreds of Newkama residents who had heard the news: a pirate was attempting the legendary Challenge of the 99 Masters.
At the center of the ring stood Princess Nefertari Vivi.
She wasn't wearing her royal regalia. She wore her tailored, flexible combat suit—a sleek blue-and-silver ensemble Ben had fabricated for her, designed to perfectly accommodate her Devil Fruit transformations without tearing. In her right hand, she gripped the Vibranium spear, the high-tech, silver metal gleaming under the afternoon sun.
She took a slow, deep breath, centering herself. The air was warm, smelling faintly of sweet perfume and blooming flowers.
Opposite her, standing in a massive, perfectly organized grid formation, were ninety-nine towering, heavily muscled individuals. They wore an assortment of fishnet stockings, swan-themed tutus, heavy mascara, and combat boots.
These were the Masters of Newkama Kenpo, the elite guardians of Emporio Ivankov's greatest culinary treasure: the 99 Vitality Recipes of Attack Cuisine.
Caroline, acting as the grandmaster of ceremonies, stood at the edge of the ring holding a microphone.
"Listen closely, candies!" Caroline's voice boomed across the stadium, met with a roar of cheers from the audience. "The rules of the Gauntlet are absolute! The challenger must defeat all ninety-nine Masters in consecutive, one-on-one combat! There are no breaks! There are no substitutions! If the challenger's knees touch the floor for more than ten seconds, or if she yields, the challenge is over!"
Caroline pointed a manicured finger at Vivi. "You are fighting for the sacred Attack Cuisine, a treasure that permanently enhances the strength and spirit of those who consume it! Show us your maidenly resolve!"
Vivi didn't flinch. She spun her Vibranium spear flawlessly, bringing the butt of the weapon to rest against the pink marble with a sharp clack.
"I am ready," Vivi declared, her blue eyes sharp and focused.
On the sidelines, sitting in the front row of the spectator stands, the rest of the Straw Hat crew was preparing for their own very important role in this battle.
"Ben!" Luffy shouted, bouncing on his heels. "We need the stuff! We gotta support Vivi!"
Ben sighed, leaning back against the stadium seating, adjusting his glasses. "Are you sure about this, Captain? It is highly undignified."
"Pirates don't care about dignity!" Usopp declared, crossing his arms. "We care about team spirit!"
"Give us the gear, Papa!" Merry demanded, standing next to Sunny. Both children looked entirely too eager.
"Fine," Ben muttered. He raised his right hand, his eyes glowing with the golden light of the Momo Yaoyorozu Creation template.
A shower of sparkles erupted over the five enthusiastic crew members.
When the light faded, Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, Mini Merry, and Sunny were all holding massive, incredibly fluffy, bright pink and gold pom-poms. But Ben hadn't stopped there. At Luffy's explicit request, he had also fabricated matching, stereotypical high-school cheerleader uniforms.
Merry and Sunny looked adorable in their little pleated skirts and matching vests. Chopper, in his Brain Point form, looked like an overly stuffed pink marshmallow.
But Luffy and Usopp?
Luffy was wearing a tight pink tank top with the word 'VIVI' emblazoned across the chest in glitter, paired with a remarkably short pink skirt over his regular blue shorts. Usopp wore the exact same outfit, his long nose jutting out proudly from beneath a pink headband.
Zoro, sitting three rows back, took one look at his captain and sniper and immediately covered his face with both hands. "I don't know them. I have never met these people in my life."
Robin, sitting beside the swordsman, let out a soft, melodious chuckle. She raised a small, elegant camera Ben had given her earlier. Click. "This is going into the official crew log."
"ALRIGHT TEAM!" Luffy roared, shaking his pom-poms vigorously. "GIMME A 'V'!"
"V!" Usopp, Chopper, Merry, and Sunny screamed in unison, throwing their arms into the air perfectly synchronized.
"GIMME AN 'I'!"
"I!"
"WHAT DOES THAT SPELL?!"
"VIVI! VIVI! SHE'S OUR GIRL! IF SHE CAN'T DO IT, NO ONE WILL! YAYYYY!"
The five of them executed a flawless, surprisingly athletic high-kick routine, completely ignoring the bewildered stares of the Newkama audience around them.
Down in the ring, Vivi couldn't help it. Despite the overwhelming tension of the impending ninety-nine fights, a massive smile broke across her face. A warmth blossomed in her chest. She wasn't just fighting for recipes; she was fighting to make her ridiculous, wonderful family stronger.
"Let the Gauntlet... BEGIN!" Caroline roared.
The first Master, a hulking man wearing a pink ballet tutu and wielding a pair of heavy iron tonfas, leaped into the ring.
"Swan Arabesque!" the Master shouted, spinning like a top, his tonfas blurring as he aimed a devastating strike at Vivi's head.
Vivi didn't transform. She didn't even use Haki.
The Super Soldier Serum that Ben had fundamentally rewritten her baseline biology. Her muscle density, reaction time, and processing were at the absolute peak of human potential.
Vivi simply ducked.
The heavy iron tonfa whistled inches above her blue hair. Before the Master could recover from the missed spin, Vivi stepped forward, driving the blunt, heavy shaft of her Vibranium spear directly into his solar plexus.
BAM!
The Vibranium didn't just strike him; it absorbed the kinetic energy of her thrust and expelled it outward. The Master gasped, the breath completely knocked out of his lungs, and collapsed to the marble floor, unconscious.
"One!" Luffy cheered from the stands, shaking his pom-poms.
"Next!" Vivi called out, spinning her spear into a ready stance.
For the first thirty fights, it was a display of overwhelming, raw physical superiority. The Newkama Masters were skilled, utilizing strange, unpredictable martial arts that mixed ballet with brutal strikes. But Vivi was a super-soldier. She didn't tire. She didn't slow down.
When Master number 15 tried to trap her in a submission hold, Vivi easily overpowered his grip, flipping the 300-pound man over her shoulder with one hand. When Master number 28 launched a barrage of throwing knives, Vivi's enhanced vision tracked every blade perfectly, allowing her to parry them all with a blur of her spear.
"She is magnificent!" a Newkama spectator wept into a handkerchief. "Such maidenly brutality!"
But as the sun began to climb higher into the sky, the true absurdity of the Momoiro Kingdom made itself known.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! STAY AWAY FROM ME!"
The agonizing, tear-soaked scream echoed not from the ring, but from the sky above the colosseum.
Everyone—Vivi, the Masters, the Straw Hats, and the audience—briefly looked up.
Running frantically through the air, hundreds of feet above the stadium, was Sanji. His royal blue suit was torn, his tie was flying wildly over his shoulder, and his face was a mask of pure, unadulterated terror. He was using Geppo (Sky Walk) to sprint across the clouds like a man fleeing the devil himself.
And right behind him, keeping perfect pace, was a swarm of twenty elite Newkama warriors in frilly dresses.
"Come back, Prince Sanji~!" a burly man with thick lipstick cooed, kicking the air with his own flawless execution of Geppo. "We haven't finished your makeover!"
"Let us show you the true meaning of romance!" another yelled, blowing a flying kiss that Sanji narrowly dodged by doing a desperate mid-air barrel roll.
"I WOULD RATHER DIE! I WOULD RATHER JUMP INTO AN ACTIVE VOLCANO! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Sanji roared, his legs pumping furiously as he did a wide, panicked lap around the airspace above the colosseum before disappearing behind a candy-cane mountain.
Zoro sighed, leaning back in his seat. "He's got good stamina, I'll give him that."
"Focus, Vivi!" Ben called out from the stands, ignoring the screaming cook. "The Masters are getting stronger! Don't let your guard down!"
Ben was right. As Master number 31 stepped into the ring, the caliber of the fighters shifted dramatically.
This Master didn't wear a tutu. He wore a traditional martial arts gi, painted bright pink.
"Newkama Kenpo: Death Wink!"
The Master didn't throw a punch. He simply winked his heavily mascaraed eye.
The sheer air pressure generated by the wink created a localized shockwave that blasted across the ring like a cannonball.
Vivi's Observation Haki flared. She sensed the invisible pressure. She raised her Vibranium spear horizontally, gripping it with both hands.
KRA-KOOM!
The shockwave slammed into the Vibranium shaft. The indestructible metal hummed loudly, absorbing the impact, but the sheer force pushed Vivi backward. Her boots skidded across the pink marble, leaving long, scorched streaks.
"They are using advanced pressure techniques," Vivi muttered to herself, shaking the numbness from her arms. "Baseline strength won't be enough anymore."
"Hah! You blocked my wink, but can you block my fists?!" The Master vanished, utilizing Soru to appear directly behind her.
Vivi didn't turn around. She closed her eyes.
FWOOSH!
A pillar of radiant, swirling golden and crimson light erupted from her body. The sheer heat and wind pressure of the transformation blew the attacking Master backward before he could even land his strike.
When the light faded, the crowd gasped in collective awe.
Vivi stood in her Simurgh Hybrid Form.
Massive, breathtaking wings of azure, fiery orange, and molten gold extended from her back, spanning nearly four meters. Her blue hair flowed wildly, adorned with an ethereal, glowing golden crown of light. Shimmering, indestructible blue and gold scales covered her forearms and lower legs, ending in sharp, lethal golden talons.
She hovered two feet off the ground, her wings beating with a silent, majestic rhythm.
"An angel!" the crowd wept.
"GO VIVI! KICK HIS BUTT!" Luffy roared, his pom-poms a blur of pink fluff.
Vivi gripped her spear. Her physical stats, already enhanced by the serum, multiplied exponentially under the power of the Mythical Zoan.
She didn't wait for the Master to recover. With a single, powerful downstroke of her wings, she crossed the fifty-meter distance in a microsecond.
"Sonic Spear: Pierce!"
She thrust her weapon forward. The Vibranium tip glowed with intense blue energy, releasing a high-frequency, concentrated sonic blast directly into the Master's chest. The concussive soundwave shattered his defense instantly, launching him completely out of the ring and into the stadium wall.
"Thirty-one down!" Caroline announced, her eyes wide with respect. "Bring in the next one!"
For the next two hours, the colosseum became a blur of gold, fire, and pink.
Fights 32 through 89 were a grueling, brutal test of attrition. The Newkama Masters attacked with relentless, coordinated precision. They used Rankyaku air-blades, heavy Tekkai defenses, and bizarre, hallucinogenic perfumes.
Vivi fought like a goddess of war.
She used her golden wings to deflect air blades, the mythical feathers harder than steel. When three Masters managed to land heavy, bruising strikes on her ribs, she didn't fall. She simply wrapped her wings around herself for a brief second. The mystical, healing flames of the Simurgh flared, instantly soothing her bruised muscles and knitting her micro-fractures back together, allowing her to keep fighting without slowing down.
But the stamina drain was immense.
Using the Hybrid form, maintaining basic Armament Haki on her spear to bypass their Iron Bodies, and constantly using Observation Haki to track their high-speed movements was burning through her reserves. The Super Soldier Serum provided incredible endurance, but she was fighting an army of superhumans back-to-back.
By the time Master number 89 hit the floor, Vivi was panting heavily. Sweat dripped from her chin, stinging her eyes. Her golden wings felt heavy, dragging against the marble.
She leaned on her spear, taking deep, ragged breaths.
"She's slowing down," Robin observed quietly from the stands, her brow furrowing in concern. "Her Haki reserves are nearly depleted."
"VIVI! YOU CAN DO IT! DON'T GIVE UP!" Chopper screamed, waving his tiny pom-poms frantically, tears in his eyes.
"V-I-V-I! V-I-V-I!" Merry and Sunny chanted, their voices hoarse but determined.
"Master Number Ninety!" Caroline shouted.
Stepping into the ring was a woman—or rather, a Newkama who embraced a fiercely feminine aesthetic—wearing a sleek, black leotard and wielding two razor-sharp, steel-bladed fans.
"I am Master François," the fighter bowed elegantly. "You have fought beautifully, My lady. But your dance ends here."
François didn't boast. She simply vanished.
Vivi's eyes widened. Where?
Her basic Observation Haki pinged wildly, but it was muddy, distorted by her sheer exhaustion.
Swish.
A sharp, stinging pain erupted on Vivi's right shoulder. She staggered, looking down. A thin, shallow cut had sliced through her suit, drawing blood. She hadn't even seen the strike.
"Too slow," François whispered from her left.
Swish.
Another cut appeared on Vivi's left thigh.
Vivi gritted her teeth, flaring her golden wings to create a burst of defensive fire, trying to force François back. But the Master was too fast. She utilized an advanced form of Soru, moving in a jagged, unpredictable zigzag pattern that made tracking her physically impossible.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Three more shallow cuts appeared on Vivi's arms and cheek. François wasn't going for a lethal blow; she was bleeding Vivi dry, dismantling her defense through a thousand tiny cuts.
"I can't track her," Vivi gasped, dropping to one knee, her vision blurring slightly from blood loss and fatigue. "She's moving faster than my Haki can process."
"STAND UP, VIVI!" Luffy roared from the stands, his voice cutting through the noise of the cheering Newkama crowd. He wasn't doing the cheerleader routine anymore. He was standing on his chair, gripping the railing, his face deadly serious.
"DON'T LOOK WITH YOUR EYES!" Luffy shouted, utilizing the exact same advice Garp and Ben had given him in the Time Chamber. "FEEL IT! FEEL THE INTENT BEFORE SHE MOVES!"
Vivi squeezed her eyes shut.
Feel the intent.
Her chest heaved. The pain in her cuts throbbed. The noise of the crowd was deafening.
"NOOOOO! GET YOUR LIPSTICK AWAY FROM ME!" Sanji's distant, agonizing scream echoed from somewhere high in the clouds above the stadium.
Vivi tuned it all out. She blocked out Sanji. She blocked out the crowd. She blocked out the pain.
She forced her mind into a state of absolute, dead silence. She stopped trying to track the physical movement of the steel fans. She expanded her consciousness, casting her spirit outward like a calm, still pond.
For three seconds, the world went completely dark.
Then, in the center of her mind's eye, a sudden, bright red flash erupted.
It wasn't a physical sight. It was a vision.
She saw François. She saw the Master pivot on her left heel. She saw the right arm pull back. She saw the exact trajectory the steel fan would take, aimed directly at her throat, a full two seconds before the muscle even twitched.
Future Sight.
The spark had ignited.
Vivi didn't open her eyes. She didn't panic.
She simply tilted her head exactly one inch to the right and raised the butt of her Vibranium spear.
In the real world, François materialized from her high-speed dash, thrusting her bladed fan directly at the kneeling princess's throat.
CLANG!
The steel fan sparked against the Vibranium shaft.
François gasped, her eyes going wide. "She parried it?! Without looking?!"
Vivi's eyes snapped open. They didn't just glow with the golden light of the Simurgh; the pupils had contracted into razor-sharp, predatory slits, vibrating with the red aura of Advanced Observation Haki.
"I see you," Vivi whispered.
Before François could retreat, Vivi spun the spear. She channeled her remaining Armament Haki into the tip of the weapon, coating it in a dense, invisible armor.
"Sonic Spear: Shatter!"
She struck François squarely in the chest. The combination of Armament Haki and the sonic blast broke the Master's ribs, launching her backward through the air and out of the ring.
Vivi stood up slowly, her breathing steadying. The cuts on her body began to glow with a soft, golden fire, slowly cauterizing and healing under the Simurgh's passive regeneration.
Up in the stands, Ben smiled, adjusting his glasses. "There it is. The crucible forged the steel. She broke through the wall."
"HELL YEAH!" Usopp screamed, aggressively shaking his pom-poms. "THAT'S OUR PRINCESS!"
Fights 91 through 98 were a completely different spectacle.
Vivi didn't rely on her raw physical stats or her destructive wings anymore. She fought with terrifying efficiency.
Every time a Master attacked, Vivi was already moving to counter it. She stepped aside before the punch was thrown. She ducked before the kick was launched. She was seeing seconds into the future, reading their intent with absolute clarity. She dismantled the next eight elite fighters using minimal energy, striking their weak points with flawless, Haki-coated precision.
"Unbelievable," Caroline murmured, watching the carnage from the sidelines. "She is reading the flow of battle perfectly. She is untouchable."
"Master Number Ninety-Nine!" Caroline announced, her voice trembling slightly with awe.
The crowd fell completely silent.
Stepping into the ring was a massive, incredibly imposing figure. He didn't wear a dress or a tutu. He wore a traditional, heavy martial arts gi, his face scarred and weather-beaten. This was the Grandmaster, the strongest proxy warrior left in charge while Emporio Ivankov was imprisoned in Impel Down.
"I am Grandmaster Ken," the giant man rumbled, bowing deeply. "You have earned my utmost respect, Pirate of the Blue Sea. But the 99th recipe is not easily yielded. I will fight you with the intent to kill."
"I expect nothing less," Vivi replied, gripping her spear with both hands, dropping into a low, aggressive stance.
Ken didn't use speed. He used overwhelming power.
He stomped his foot. The entire pink marble arena cracked and buckled under the sheer force of his Armament Haki. He coated his arms entirely in pitch-black armor, the Haki so dense it seemed to absorb the sunlight.
"Newkama Secret Art: Iron Mountain Strike!"
Ken charged like a runaway train, throwing a punch that carried the weight of a meteor.
Vivi's Future Sight flared. She saw the punch. She saw the devastating shockwave it would create. She knew that even with her Vibranium spear and her Super Soldier durability, trying to block a blow with that much Haki density would shatter her arms.
She had to counter. With everything she had.
Vivi took a deep breath. She didn't retreat. She stepped directly into the path of the charging titan.
As she moved, she channeled every single drop of energy she had left. The golden and fiery orange feathers of her wings blazed with a blinding, incandescent light. The heat radiating from her warped the air, turning the ring into a furnace.
But it wasn't just heat.
Deep within her soul, fueled by the absolute refusal to lose, the unyielding pride of a ruler, and the desperate desire to protect her crew, a sleeping dragon awoke.
THROOOOOOM.
It was uncontrolled. But it was unmistakable.
A massive, invisible wave of Conqueror's Haki exploded from Vivi's body.
The blast of Supreme King's Haki washed over the arena. The weaker Newkama spectators in the stands instantly rolled their eyes back and collapsed, foaming at the mouth. The marble floor shattered completely.
Even Grandmaster Ken, caught in the epicenter of the blast, faltered. His eyes widened, and his charge slowed for a second as the overwhelming spiritual pressure slammed into his mind.
A King's disposition?! Ken thought in sheer shock.
That second of hesitation was all Vivi needed.
Her Future Sight tracked his momentary lapse perfectly. She leaped into the air, her golden wings flaring wide. She spun, using the momentum of her flight to bring her Vibranium spear down in a devastating, overhand arc.
She poured her Armament Haki into the blade, combining it with the max output of the Simurgh's holy fire and the spear's sonic capabilities.
"Simurgh Dive: SONIC VANGUARD!"
KRA-KOOOOOOOOM!
Vivi's spear collided squarely with Grandmaster Ken's crossed, Haki-coated arms.
The resulting explosion of sound, fire, and Haki was deafening. A massive crater, fifty meters wide, was instantly blown into the center of the colosseum. The shockwave shattered the remaining stadium seats and sent a cloud of pink dust billowing hundreds of feet into the air.
Up in the clouds, a screaming Sanji was thrown off course by the concussive blast, tumbling through the sky alongside his twenty relentless suitors.
"NAMI-SWAAAAN! I'M FALLING!" Sanji's voice faded into the distance.
Down in the arena, the dust slowly began to clear.
The crowd that remained conscious held their breath.
Standing in the absolute center of the massive, smoking crater was Princess Vivi. Her golden wings were fading, retracting back into her body as the Simurgh transformation ended due to total exhaustion. Her Vibranium spear was planted firmly into the cracked marble, supporting her trembling weight.
Lying unconscious at her feet, his Armament Haki shattered and his arms bruised, was Grandmaster Ken.
Vivi had won.
"NINETY-NINE!" Caroline screamed, tears streaming down her face, her mascara running wildly. "SHE DID IT! THE CHALLENGER HAS CLEARED THE GAUNTLET!"
"YEAAAAAAAH!"
The Straw Hat cheering squad absolutely lost their minds. Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper threw their pink pom-poms into the air, jumping up and down in a chaotic, celebratory hug. Merry and Sunny high-fived. Zoro smirked, and Robin clapped politely.
Down in the ring, the adrenaline finally left Vivi's system.
The exhaustion hit her like a physical wall. Her vision went black. She released her grip on the spear and collapsed forward, her body entirely spent.
She didn't hit the ground.
Before her knees could touch the marble, Ben materialized directly in front of her. He caught her gently in his arms, supporting her weight effortlessly.
"You did beautifully, Vanguard," Ben whispered, a warm, immensely proud smile on his face.
Vivi barely opened her eyes, offering a weak, exhausted smile. "Did I get the recipes...?"
"You got them all," Ben assured her.
He didn't wait. Ben raised his right hand, his eyes glowing with the ancient magic of the Medea template.
"Golden Fleece: Restoration."
A brilliant, soothing shower of golden light erupted from Ben's palm, washing over Vivi's battered body. The deep bruises faded. The shallow cuts stitched themselves closed perfectly. The sheer, bone-deep fatigue was washed away, replaced by a sudden, miraculous surge of warm energy.
Vivi gasped, her eyes snapping open clearly. The pain was entirely gone.
Caroline and several of the conscious Masters rushed into the ring. They didn't look angry or resentful. They looked at Vivi with reverence.
Caroline fell to her knees, holding out a massive, ancient-looking scroll sealed with a pink ribbon.
"My Lady," Caroline wept, holding the scroll up. "You have proven your maidenly heart, your terrifying strength, and your absolute resolve! As promised, the 99 Vitality Recipes of Attack Cuisine are yours!"
Vivi accepted the heavy scroll with a gracious bow. "Thank you, Caroline. I promise, our crew will put them to excellent use."
"YEAH WE WILL!"
Luffy bounded into the crater, still wearing his ridiculous cheerleader outfit, completely ignoring the solemnity of the moment. He wrapped his rubber arms around Vivi and Ben, pulling them into a massive, suffocating group hug.
"We got the super food recipes!" Luffy cheered. "Now Sanji can make us permanent power-ups!"
Speaking of Sanji.
THUD.
A battered, bruised, and utterly traumatized blonde cook fell from the sky, crashing face-first into the dirt just a few feet away from the group. His suit was in tatters, covered in lipstick kiss marks. His eyes were wide, staring blankly into the middle distance, his soul seemingly having left his body entirely.
"I have seen the abyss..." Sanji whispered to the dirt, twitching slightly. "There are no mermaids there... only hairy legs and... so much perfume..."
"Hey Sanji!" Luffy yelled, waving the massive scroll over the broken cook. "Vivi won the 99 Recipes! Now you can cook us the Attack Cuisine!"
Sanji's visible eye snapped into focus. The traumatized, broken shell of a man vanished instantly.
The pure, unyielding passion of a master chef resurrected him from the dead. Sanji leaped to his feet, ignoring the lipstick stains and the bruises. He snatched the heavy scroll from Luffy's hands, his eye scanning the ancient parchment with terrifying intensity.
"Attack Cuisine..." Sanji muttered, reading the ingredients. "Pork roasted with Sea-King marrow... vitality-enhancing spices... cellular-rebuilding broth..."
Sanji looked up, his eye burning with a fiery, culinary determination that rivaled his Diable Jambe.
"I see," Sanji grinned, lighting a battered, half-crushed cigarette. "Give me access to the Sunny's pantry and twelve hours. I'm going to turn you idiots into literal gods by breakfast."
The crew cheered, victorious and united. They had secured the ultimate power-up, their Vanguard had awakened Future Sight, and they were one step closer to conquering the New World.