Chapter 7 – Samurai Kid

After Doflamingo had returned Law to his bedroom under the watchful eyes of Cora, to his surprise, they parted ways without saying anything. His red-haired subordinate left him standing in the hallway and the Captain decided to call it a night after all.

Back in his own quarters and lying on his bed, Doflamingo wondered at what point Cora had started to become such a pain in the ass. They used to get along so well although she disliked his brutality in dealing with certain "problems" at times. But now it felt like she was judging his every action with those bright magenta eyes of hers just waiting for an opportunity to lecture him.

She didn't even have to say anything to make him feel uncomfortable. Doflamingo growled to himself and covered his eyes with the back of his hand. Soon he felt sleep take over his senses and sank into a deep dark hole of nothing.

The sun was at its highest point and the heat made him feel like his head was going to explode. But despite everything he kept running over the rooftops, jumping on the strings only he could see when the distance between two buildings was too great. The royal guards were still after him and fired shots that he was luckily able to dodge. Unfortunately, his stamina was nearing its limit.

Because of that, instead of jumping to the next roof, he crashed through the window of an abandoned building and ran down the stairs. When he came through the door to get back on the street one of the guards was blocking his way.

"I got him!", the man yelled and pointed his sword at Doflamingo.

The guard was about to wield his weapon when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Doflamingo had raised his hand before the man and watched how panic consumed the guards expression.

"I-I can't move! W-What did you-?!"

Before he could finish his question the man's arm turned the sword towards himself and buried the blade inside his own neck.

Red droplets of blood flew through the air and Doflamingo started running again. Some of the blood dripped down his face and hand as he made his way through tight alleys. When he turned around a corner he suddenly heard another one of the guards yelling to his comrades.

"I have him! The thief is right here!"

Doflamingo glanced over his shoulder but didn't see anyone behind him. The guards had stopped following him and were now gathered in a circle on the street he had just crossed. Doflamingo narrowed his eyes in confusion behind his sunglasses.

"DON'T COME CLOSER!"

Hiding in the shadows of the alley, Doflamingo returned to see what had happened. The guards encircled a small person in the middle of the street. To improve his angle of view Doflamingo used his strings to elevate himself into the air and dropped down on a balcony above the alley. The person surrounded by the guards was a boy around his age. He was dirty and covered in scratches just like Doflamingo himself. To his surprise, the boy was carrying a sword as well but it seemed different from the sabers the guards were chasing him with.

Doflamingo couldn't see the boy's face as it was hidden beneath grey scarf. The kid raised his weapon and took a fighting position.

"What is that moron doing...", Doflamingo murmured.

"I told you I didn't steal anything. Let me go.", the kid said with a seemingly confident voice.

It was an act that Doflamingo saw through immediately. The boy was scared shitless.

Some of the guards started to laugh. The leader of them remained serious and stepped closer to the kid.

"The punishment for thievery and murder in this country is death."

"You have the wrong person!"

Now the panic was evident in the kid's voice. The men started to close in on him and Doflamingo was almost certain to become a witness of a public execution when the boy suddenly started to fight. Doflamingo watched in awe how he dodged the guards' attacks by wielding his weapon like a master swordsman. He spun around so quickly that Doflamingo himself had trouble to follow his movements. Unfortunately, one of the guards remembered that he was carrying a gun besides his sword and aimed for the kid's head.

Doflamingo heard himself shout the words

"WATCH OUT!"

but the boy still couldn't react fast enough to escape the shot completely.

The bullet cut through his shoulder and threw him back on the dusty ground. The other guards had drawn their pistols as well and were now aiming for both of them. Doflamingo was about to take a quick escape over the roof when his legs refused to move.

"Screw this..."

Doflamingo cursed to himself as he jumped down on the street and ran towards the group of guards. He dodged their shots and sword swings by using his devil fruit ability and agility. He didn't have enough time to make them turn their weapons on themselves since that required a lot of concentration. Instead the strings just slowed down their movements and made them miss their target by mere inches. Doflamingo slid across the ground and stopped next to the injured kid that watched him with wide eyes. Without wasting any time, he grabbed the boy and through him over his shoulder. The kid groaned in pain and clutched his own as Doflamingo sprinted towards the nearest alley to escape. The guards were yelling and running after them.

"They split up! They'll try to cut us off!", the boy said between gritted teeth.

As it turned out he was right. Some of the guards appeared at the end of the alley and raised their pistols.

"Shit. Hold on tight, I'll need both of my hands for this..."

"For what?"

Doflamingo pulled the kid down from his shoulder and the boy quickly wrapped his legs around his waist and his uninjured arm around his neck.

Doflamingo stopped running and jumped into the air. He connected the strings of his right hand to the guards before them while his left hand stilled the movements of the men at the other end of the alley. With as much force as possible, Doflamingo pulled the guards towards the now immoveable group behind them and made them crash into each other. After that, he used his ability to move upwards with the other kid still clenching his waist and neck. When they landed on the rooftop of the nearest building he started running again.

The sunset turned the clear desert sky into fiery shades of red after Doflamingo had been running over rooftops for hours. Once they reached another abandoned building far away from the city's centre, the 14-year old slowed down and checked his surroundings.

"Seems we're safe now... those asswipes sure got faster since last time. This house looks empty. The roof has collapsed but it should be fine..."

Doflamingo leaned on one of the remaining stone walls that had once supported the ceiling. The boy he had rescued sat down next to him. His shoulder was still bleeding.

"So you mean to tell me that you're the one they were looking for...?"

"Yeah... you just happened to get in the way..."

"You're a devil fruit user, aren't you?"

Doflamingo nodded.

The kid removed its scarf and for the first time Doflamingo got to see its face.

"You're a girl.", he chuckled.

"Yeah."

Doflamingo sat down next to the female stranger.

"Why is your head shaved? What happened to your hair?"

A pair of magenta colored eyes narrowed at him.

"I sold it. It's a bright shade of red and some people on the bazar went crazy about it. I could buy food for a whole month from the money they gave me."

Doflamingo cackled even louder.

"Fufufu! Why didn't you sell that fancy sword of yours? That should be worth a year of meals!"

The girl glared at him but suddenly started to realise something and paniced.

"Guaah dammit! I left my sword back there! Now those stupid soldiers are probably all over my treasure..."

"Hey, hey! No reason to get all emotional over a that! If you want it back just steal it from the palace's treasure room. It's not that hard to get inside..."

"Is that why they were chasing you? Because you stole from the royal's treasures?"

"Yes... and because I killed them."

Magenta eyes stared at him in horror and Doflamingo burst out laughing again.

"Hahaha just kidding! I only killed some of their guards who blocked my way. The reason why I broke into the treasure room was this."

Doflamingo reached into his pant's pocket and revealed an hourglass-like compass with a glass orb in its middle.

"What is that?"

"This is an Eternal Pose. The needle inside always points towards the same island on the Grand Line. You know the Grand Line, right?"

"Of course... but what do need this for? You don't seem like someone who owns a ship..."

Doflamingo's shaded eyes watched the needle stay in place as turned the compass in his hand.

"You're kinda right about that but I'm working on a solution. By the way, my name is Donquixote Doflamingo, I'm a pirate. What's your name?"

The girl eyed him suspiciously but shook his extended hand.

"Cora Zon..."

Doflamingo smiled at her and returned the Eternal Pose to his pocket.

"I tell you what Cora Zon. I'll help you get back your fancy sword if you promise to join my crew."

Cora blinked at him in surprise.

"Okay but... I just met you... and you don't know anything about me."

Doflamingo clicked his tongue.

"That's not entirely true. I know that you're a great swordsman... well, swords-woman. And I know that you're willing to do what's necessary to survive."

Cora's gaze dropped to the floor. Doflamingo stopped smiling when he saw her doubtful expression.

"What's the matter? You have family or something else holding you back?"

"No... no, it's not like that. I don't know my parents. I grew up in the bet-house they sold me to because they couldn't pay their gambling debts."

"Bet-house?"

"Yeah... it's a place were you can basically bet money on anything. I started with easy bets like 'I bet I can spin around a hundred times without falling down'. The higher the risk the more money you get if you win. I started betting when I was six years old. The owners of the bet-house raised me as their employee. I have to win bets in order to pay my rent and to amortize the debt for the six years I lived there without earning any money."

Doflamingo stared at the girl next to him as she talked about her past without any sign of sadness in her eyes.

"At ten I won the sword you saw earlier. I claimed that I could survive in the desert for three days without any food or water. I almost died that time and got the worst sunburn of my life but I really, really wanted that sword."

"Why?"

"Because with a trusty weapon like that your chances at winning a fight bet are much higher. And fight bets are the ones that bring you the most money if you win."

Cora raised her head and looked up into the clear night sky.

"It took some time but I got stronger and more skilled with every fight. Last month I won every single one of my bets. Unfortunately, I still didn't have enough money for shelter AND food. But now I have to buy dressing material as well. Without my sword, collecting that money will be difficult..."

After Cora had finished her story, Doflamingo just looked at her without saying anything. When he silently stood up, Cora tried to stand up as well but Doflamingo laid a hand or her uninjured shoulder to keep her from getting up.

"Wait here, I'll be right back."

Cora looked confused but did as she was told since her wound was still bleeding and she felt quite dizzy. Doflamingo returned after a couple of minutes with a bag over his shoulder. He sat down next to Cora and unwrapped a bottle of water.

"You'll have to clean that wound of yours."

Before Cora was able to say anything, Doflamingo raised his hand and used his devil fruit power to slice through the fabric of her shirt. A mixture of panic and embarassment played on Cora's face and she instantly tried to cover her upper body.

"A-ARE YOU CRAZY?!", she shrieked and looked at him in terror.

Doflamingo ignored her complains and poured some of the water on one of the rags. He then started to clean the gunshot wound on her shoulder. Cora winced at the pain but didn't try to stop him. Doflamingo seemed focused on his task but his shaded eyes wandered over the body before him and analyzed every detail. Cora's skin was bronzed with long white scars on her arms and back. The scars were covered by red tendril-like tattoos on both of her arms. The tendrils formed a heart on her back. Strong muscles flexed under that inked skin whenever Doflamingo touched the wound on her shoulder.

"Who gave you that ink?"

Cora gasped in surprise and touched her own back subconsciously.

"Those tattoos were part of a another bet... the needles hurt but over time I actually grew to like them."

Doflamingo looked at her but his face didn't show any emotion. Cora felt uncomfortable. It bothered her that she had told all those things to a weird stranger who had almost gotten her killed. But something about that blond-haired boy made her want to talk. There was sense of familiarity, he seemed like one of the few people who could understand her mindset. Maybe if she could see the expression of his eyes, she would know what he was truly thinking.

"It's night already... don't you want to take those sunglasses down?"

Doflamingo's blank expression turned into a smiling face.

"Naa."

His fingers hovered over Cora's wound and suddenly started to move. Cora watched closely but had no idea what he was doing. After a few minutes, Doflamingo's fingers stopped moving but remained still over Cora's shoulder. The next second, the boy's hand clenched into a fist and Cora felt something tugging on the skin around the wound. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that the cut on her flesh was closed like it had been sewn together by invisible strings.

"Fufufufufu! I never thought I could use them for this! How interesting!", Doflamingo chimed as he regarded his work.

"How did you do that? Is that your devil fruit power?"

Doflamingo nodded happily and grinned at her.

"Alright! With that you owe me one. Tell me, are you going to join my crew Cora Zon?"

The girl touched the closed up injury on her shoulder and smiled. She didn't trust the boy just yet but after talking about her life until now, she felt that it was time for change.

"Yes... I will join you Donquixote Doflamingo."

Doflamingo's smile widened even more.

"Great! Now let's get your sword back!"

"Okay but I have one more question before we go."

"Yes?"

"The Eternal Pose you stole... which island is it pointing to...?"

Doflamingo stood up and raised a hand before his face. He smiled to himself and formed a fist before turning back to look at Cora. Although his voice sounded rather serious, he smiled widely revealing two rows of white teeth.

"Dressrosa."

Doflamingo mumbled the word in his sleep as he was turning around under his blanket.

His lips curled up into a smile.