#✦⸸ QUESTIONS TURN TO DAGGERS⸴ EACH WORD A WEAPON��� FOR TRUTH IS A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD⸴ SHARP ENOUGH TO CUT DEEPLY ⸸✦ (asks)

[onigiram]

TAGS. i didn't like the other ones asjbfjbsdjgb

[ericsonclan]

Who's The Hottest of Them All

Summary: When Ruby, Clementine and Brody get into an argument over which of their guys is the hottest they realize there is only one way to solve it: a dueling tournament!

Read on A03:

“Clearly Louis is the hottest guy!” Clementine exclaimed, crossing her arms.

“Aww Sug, he’s nice and all but he’s got nothing on Aasim.” Ruby smirked as she stood in front of Clementine.

“Mitch is the hottest.” Brody mumbled when she walked by the pair carrying a few supplies in her arms.

“He isn’t the hottest.” Clementine’s statement caused Brody to stop in her tracks.

“Have you seen Mitch’s abs?” Brody looked back at Clem and Ruby “His biceps? Louis and Aasim are fine, but face it, they have noodles for arms!”

“Excuse me?” Ruby raised her voice; it was clear she was getting upset.

“Louis is toned. Plus his freckles alone make him the hottest.” Clementine glared over at Brody. Brody scoffed, causing Ruby and Clementine to get even more invested in the argument. The three girls continued to argue, never agreeing as they continued to defend their significant others.

“There’s only one way to settle this then!” Clementine strode forward.“We duel and whichever one wins gets to declare their guy is the hottest.”

“That’s fine with me.” Ruby put her hands on her hips. Brody nodded in agreement.

The three of them set out to get the weapon barrel and anything else they may need for the competition. After a few minutes of getting the equipment ready the three girls gathered around, ready to fight. Each of them continued to smack talk the others, their voices ringing out along the deck. Prisha’s and Sophie’s attention fell on them as they were carrying a waterlogged chest across the deck.

“What are you guys doing?” Sophie looked over with a curious expression, placing the item down so that she and Prisha could take a break.

“We’re dueling for the right to claim who’s the hottest guy on the ship.” Brody glanced over at them as she stretched her legs to get ready for the fight.

Prisha seemed intrigued by the answer “Alright. Then I’m joining in.” She grabbed a practice sword.

“What?!?” Brody looked up in confusion. “But you don’t have a guy to fight for.”

“No, but I'm going to fight to prove that Violet’s the hottest.” Prisha twirled the wooden sword in her hand.

“She’s not a guy, Prisha.” Clementine’s eyes wandered over towards Prisha, crossing her arms. “So you can’t join in. The title we’re fighting to win is Hottest Guy.”

“I think you’re just scared that I’m going to win.” Prisha smirked.

“We’ll see about that!” Ruby declared, a confident smile on her face.

By the time the girls figured out the order of the duels, the rest of the crew had come out to see what it was all about.

“They’re fighting to see who the hottest guy is?” Louis’ voice cracked, a blush slowly taking over his face.

“Why is Prisha dueling?” Aasim asked in confusion.

“To prove that Violet’s the hottest!” Prisha replied with a proud smile.

Violet looked shocked before glancing away, overwhelmed by the statement.

“But she’s not a guy!” Mitch huffed in annoyance.

Prisha glared daggers at Mitch. “I’m going to win.”

“Heh. We’ll see about that. Get ready, losers, cause you’re all about to lose.” Clementine declared with a smug expression, striding forward.

“That’s some bold words.” Ruby’s smile mirrored Clementine’s .

“Nuh uh. True words.” Clementine pointed her wooden sword towards the others.

“Oh Sophie, do you want to join the tournament?” Brody looked at Sophie.

“Umm, I don’t have any stake in this since I don’t have a person to fight for.” Sophie leaned against the mast.

“You could fight for Marlon.” Ruby suggested.

“I don’t know. With his hair I can’t truly say he’s the hottest.” Sophie shook her head in mock sadness.

“What?” Marlon looked shocked by her answer before his face fell with a frown. “My hair is cool.”

“Sorry, Marlon, but it’s not.” Sophie gave a playful smile.

“You take that back!” Marlon demanded, making his way over to Sophie.

“Sorry, but I can’t take back the truth.” Sophie gave a shrug.

Marlon let out an annoyed sound before storming off. Sophie felt her stomach turn; she really felt bad about that. She’d definitely have to apologize later.

“Come on. It’ll be fun!” Brody pushed, hoping that her friend would agree.

“Fine. I’ll join in.” Sophie kicked her feet off the mast. She was always down for a duel. Plus it seemed like the others wanted her to join.

With that the duels were chosen, the first being between Brody and Ruby. It was a fairly even match with both sides defending well against their opponent’s attacks, biding their time before seeing an opening to strike. It was only a few well-timed strikes that made Brody win, causing Aasim to be pulled out of the running.

Ruby stood by his side, upset to be the first one out.

“It’s okay, Ruby.” Aasim whispered with a gentle smile, rubbing her back to help calm her down. Mitch let out a victory cheer and immediately moved over to give Brody a hug from behind. “That’s right! My girl just kicked ass!” he declared proudly. “How does it feel, Aasim, to be the ugliest guy?”

“Shut up, Mitch.” Aasim glared at him, a look of annoyance on his face.

It took a couple minutes to cool down the tension between Aasim and Mitch before moving on to the second round. Sophie stood in front of Clementine, her swords at the ready. Even if she was invested in the tournament, this would be a tough match. Clementine was the first to attack, causing Sophie to backstep from the impact before going on the offensive. Her swings were blocked by Clementine who seemed to always be one step ahead of her opponent. Sophie waited patiently for an opening, blocking the barrage of hits. When Sophie saw one she took it, swinging her blade towards Clementine’s side only for it to turn out to be a trap. With one fluid movement Clementine disarmed Sophie, kicking her legs out. Clem had won.

“Whoa that was awesome, Clem!” Louis exclaimed with a huge grin. Clementine beamed at Louis then proceeded to help Sophie back up.

Before the semifinal could happen, Sophie, Ruby and Prisha had to duel for a chance to make it into the finals. It was a fierce battle; all three tried to outsmart the others. Ruby was the first to get out, swiftly disarmed by Sophie’s blade. She gave a sad groan when she got out while Sophie let out a sigh of relief, happy to get one step closer to victory. Prisha took the opportunity to try and take out Sophie before she had a chance to focus back on the duel. Sophie’s face twisted in pain, a small, shaky gasp escaping her lips as Prisha’s blade connected with her rib cage.

Sophie immediately doubled over, her hands clutching onto her knees as her head spun. She knew she had lost. “I forfeit.” Sophie wheezed, collapsing against the side of the ship. “I didn’t even want to join.”

Prisha let out a happy cry, jumping in the air at the news of her victory.

“See that, Violet!” Prisha looked over at Violet with happiness “We’re in the finals!”

“You went too far, Prisha.” Violet motioned over to the side of the ship where Ruby had walked over to check on Sophie.

Prisha's face fell in concern, realizing just how brutal her attack had been.

“Don’t worry,” Ruby looked over at Prisha. “Sophie is going to be just fine.” Ruby’s confirmation seemed to help the whole crew feel more at ease.

“Sorry, Sophie. I just got really caught up in the duel. I didn’t mean for something like this to happen again.” Prisha had an apologetic look while she stood by Sophie.

“It’s okay. It was all in good fun.” Sophie gave a reassuring smile that disappeared when she winced while adjusting her weight.

The crew decided it would be best for Sophie to lie down so they took a quick break while Marlon helped Sophie down belowdecks to get some rest. After Marlon had returned and let them know that Sophie was okay, they resumed the tournament, moving on to the semifinals.

It didn’t last very long at all. Brody's anxiety easily got the best of her and with a few attacks Clementine had won. Only one more competitor stood in her way.

Clementine and Prisha walked towards each other with competitive smiles on their faces.

“May the best man win.” Clementine said, shaking Prisha’s hand.

Prisha looked at her with a smirk. “I’ve already won.”

Clementine met her smirk with one of her own. “We’ll see about that.”

The two stood at the ready. The tension in the air was thick with excitement as the two battled it out. Each played to their strengths. Prisha’s defense was near impossible to break. Her blade deflected each of Clementine’s attacks as she took her time to find an opening.

But there were none. Clementine weaved an impressive balance between defense and offense. It was only thanks to Prisha’s endurance that she had gotten an attack in after many excruciating minutes of dueling. Prisha dashed to the right side, feigning an attack before sliding to the left and hitting Clementine with a devastating blow, causing Clementine to lose her edge and fall over.

“Yes!” Prisha yelled, a bright smile on her face as she pumped her fist.

The crew looked on in disbelief. Violet, the only non-male contender, had won the title of Hottest Guy.

Louis gave a big smile before running towards the ship wheel. Jumping onto the railing in front of it, he flipped his coat dramatically. “Let it be known from this day forth that Violet is the hottest guy of the Ericson Pirates!”

Violet looked away, a mixture of pride and embarrassment within her.

“Ha! Take that, Mitch!” Prisha stood by Violet with a proud grin on her face.

“But!” Louis’ voice drew back the crew’s attention. “There’s still a burning question on everyone’s mind: Who’s the hottest girl?” Louis playfully wiggled his eyebrows. “I guess we’ll have to see in the next tournament.”

His words rang out across the ship as the crew stood silently, taking in the challenge Louis had just declared. Everyone was curious who would win.