Sylvester Sweet was sucking wind, hands on his knees, and felt quite cornered, even after his last victories against the other two elves. Tingle stood still, a few meters off from the cowboy. The flame extinguished, no one else was being freed or burned from the fire, and it was as quiet as it had been since Sylvester had woken from that cursed nightmare.
“You work for that big guy, don’t ya, partner?” Sylvester asked. It was an insane question, but he didn’t know if he’d ever have another chance to get what he was after, and felt compelled to ask.
Tingle was startled. His leg might’ve been shaking from the fear or the cold, Sylvester couldn’t tell, and didn’t care much either way.
“I’ll free them,” the elf said nervously,
“I’ll free them all if that’s what you want!” he waved his hand and verdant ribbons swam through the night air towards the trapped victims. The red bows came undone as the spell met them, supposedly undoing the magic.
“I ain’t asking you to free them!” Sylvester roared. He was quite done with the whole affair, and really wanted to get that knife out of his body, but he couldn’t leave until he got what he was after. Some of the victims began to stir as they woke from their slumber.
“I’m sorry!” Tingle screeched,
“Do you want to go back under? I can make it better this time! All I did was give everyone the one thing they really wanted most in the world. I have that information you know,” he was rambling now. The elf wanted to do anything so he wouldn’t have to be at other end of this guy’s voice.
“Y’know I just showed you your life without your… neatness problem. Like, oh! That guy wanted to be a feared pirate captain! That girl over there? She just wanted this guy to propose! Over there-”“Shut your mouth!” Sylvester interjected. The command struck fear into many of the onlookers as well, who were struggling to get a sense of the nonsensical situation.
“If you know what everyone wants than tell me this,” the cowboy hesitated for an instant before he brought himself to ask.
“What… what did Ana-Lisa Sweet want for Christmas?”The crowd stayed silent. Even if they didn’t grasp the weight of the question, they could feel the immense pressure it had brought on merely by looking at the cowboy who asked it. Tingle’s face softened ever so slightly, and moved to answer Sylvester before he was interrupted yet again.
“Don’t you tell that stocking stuffer of a cowpoke one more word, Tingle!” Ringle the elf rose from his own section of the Yuletide Mercy, hastily throwing aside the plant to stand back on his own two feet.
“You humans are all so selfish,” he declared, stepping free from the disenchanted greenery.
“Do you know what we know how long we’ve labored for your kind? No more! The happiest day of my life was when I got permission to start exterminating you squirts on the naughty list! You know what I saw under that plant? You know what I want for Christmas?! This! Right here, you and me! Wanna know how it ends?” Ringle stood just inches from Sylvester, looking up at the cowboy, rage burning in his dark eyes.
“With you six feet under a snowdrift!”“Nordmann Fir!”Sylvester threw his own fist against the elf’s destructive straight right, but he was still blown away by the technique’s force. The cowboy was sent clattering through the snow, that knife digging deeper into his skin with every minute movement. The awakened people around the two combatants were aghast. Aligning themselves with the only human on the battlefield, they began to cheer for the mysterious cowboy, hoping he was on their side.
But, their savior didn’t hear much of what they were chanting and cheering. His question hadn’t yet been answered. For some inexplicable reason, Sylvester knew that Tingle had the true answer within him. He was confident the elf would give it to him. He’d never needed anything that badly. The cowboy would blow this elf away if that’s what it was going to take.
“C’mon, cowpoke! Make this fun for me!”Snow flew every which way behind Sylvester as he sprinted towards the opponent. Every jab, cross and kick seemed to send even more snow flying about. The exchange of fierce physicality trapped the pair in some violent snowglobe, with them both cut off from the outside world. But, Sylvester was still attached. He needed to know. For every moment of pain he endured against the foe before him, he could only compare it to Ana-Lisa’s torment.
That face she showed in the flames, could it have been real? Did she know her husband was a wanted man? A killer? Did their child know? When his whole quest was over and done with, would she even open the door for the villain who returned?
“Noble Fir!”The punch broke through Sylvester’s swift defenses, and he was thrown into the air by Ringle’s uppercut. The cowboy was helpless, falling from several meters in the air. It was as if he had no control over his fate. Was there nothing he could do? Was he simply a victim of the situation, helpless to change it? Against Ringle? For Ana-Lisa?
As soon as the question crossed his mind, the answer broke free.
“Christmas Star!”Ringle’s finishing move looked to brain the falling Sylvester. After all, what could a fool do while he was helpless in the air? But, Sylvester had learned better. He’d beaten the cage of his mind before, his issue. He’d done it right on that island. With his crew mates, with his friends and against enemies. Sylvester Sweet was no victim. He was the cowboy. He was the man with the plan. He was the one who would lasso the Grand Line and bring it to order!
Sylvester’s open hand met the elf’s punch, and Ringle felt something metallic and sharp slip between his knuckles with an intense pain. Sylvester had broken open his own pristine skin with the very knife stuck in his side, stabbing it through his hand to pierce the elf’s strike and stop it in its tracks. But, he wouldn’t be finished there.
Sylvester brought his other arm down, with every feeling and emotion he could possibly muster. Every memory of his friends and family came crashing down on the obstacle in his path. And there wasn’t an object on the seas that could hold up against that much strength, much less the small elf at Sylvester’s mercy.
Ringle’s vision went black, and Sylvester almost joined him in unconsciousness, if he hadn’t had one last job to finish. Crawling to his knees. Sylvester raised his head as high as he could manage, every bone creaking inside his body, as if his skeleton had rusted over. He locked eyes with Tingle, hoping he wouldn’t have to muster the strength to speak.
Nervousness was gone from the last elf’s legs and voice, who approached Sylvester with a thin smile.
“Ana-Lisa Sweet,” he said,
“wants a family for Christmas. She wants her family home for Christmas.”Tears mixed with blood on the cowboy’s face. His throat was too tight to thank the small creature. Sylvester Sweet reached up and tipped his hat in appreciation. Shaking like a leaf, Sylvester stood from his knees and walked through the cold night. He needed to get back to his ship, after all.
“By the way,” Tingle said, stopping Sylvester in his tracks. The sudden halt was almost enough to topple the man.
“It’s a girl. A girl with no name.” The cowboy turned back, straining the screaming muscles in his neck to pull off the feat.
“Ana-Lisa figured the girl’s father should have a hand in deciding. Wouldn’t you agree?”Upper lip trembling, Sylvester nodded his head, and walked off into what seemed like the beginning of a very gentle snowfall, and the end of a very long night.
- Sylvester's Techniques:
Techniques Used: None
Haki Stamina: 5/6
Haki Cooldown: 1/3
-exit Sylvester-