Luffy's body felt heavy and it took a lot of effort to just keep his eyes open. He was sitting against the wall in a small, colorless room. No, it was more like a large closet, lit now by a window that was positioned over his head. Slowly, sound was recognized and Luffy heard the war that enveloped the world around him.
The effects of the dosage of drug he had been given wore off quickly after he woke and Luffy pulled himself to the window before wondering how had got there in the first place. The window was dusted with a thick layer of ash and grim, making it useless. Anxiety rising, Luffy tried to run for the door, but he stumbled and had to catch the handle in order to keep himself from falling. Slowly, the boy steadied himself with a deep breath, feeling strength return to his legs.
The door opened to reveal a circular white room or area with other doors occupying the wall. In the center, a spiraled staircase rose past the level and led to the next floor. The sounds of explosions and the moaning of the wind were louder now, the sounds echoing in the stairwell. There was the sound of a door opening and closing above him and a more distant sound of a door doing the same somewhere below him, but when Luffy looked down the middle of the stairs, he couldn't see who was responsible for the rushed activity below him. Looking up, Luffy realized there was light coming from a window, and that the stair ended on the next level.
Running up the stairs made him both lightheaded and exhilarated after so many days of being confined to the hospital bed. A frown showed his disappointment when he found that clouds had darkened and blocked the window during the time it took to come up the stairs. Muffled voice made him spin on his heel, revealing the only door that occupied the top floor. Without much thought, he opened it. Instinct manipulated his body and made Luffy run into the room before his brain could interpret what was going on.
****
Sengoku stared dully out the window, consciousness futilely reaching out to his mind. Smoke had polluted even the air in his office, the screen could no longer keep him from its reality. He watched the death and could not help but feel that this war was wholly different from Whitebeard's war.
"What legacy would rest in our ruins?"
Sengoku jolted when he realized he had spoken. A scowl immediately formed on his face, and he furrowed his brows, disgusted with himself. Removing his glasses, the aged man cleaned them and placed them back on his face, seeing with slightly more clarity. The minute details that had escaped him before sent the Fleet Admiral into utter dismay and he gasped. With tremors caused from disbelief and confusion, his hand lifted him from his chair and Sengoku tried to walk to the window, but found he had not the strength to face the impending doom he witnessed through the glass. There appeared to be a shadow of a line of ships forming along the rim of the sea. Slowly, Sengoku managed to reach the ledge, his face was white as death, drawing a satisfied chuckle below.
Sengoku closed his eyes, his mouth twitching as he still tried to compose himself. "It must be you…it can't be anyone else." He whispered and then opened his eyes and looked at the dark shadow marring the white of the scattered papers.
"It has been a while since I last saw you."
Sengoku grimaced. "Yes, Dragon. Somehow I'd grown to hope, over the years, that we wouldn't have to meet again."
"Hope? No…Sengoku. Don't ever blind yourself with such a weak thought."
"What are you doing?" the Marine's eyes burned into Dragon with a cold cruelty finally bringing him composure. "Taking every given advantage, like a dog taking scraps from a dinner table?" the old man tried to laugh, but it was raspy and frail. "Is that all you've ever been, Dragon? Is that why you have been hiding? Waiting for others to weaken us so that you could bring about the end without much sacrifice on your part?"
The man was unfazed by Sengoku's words. They were meaningless to him. "Eradicating the current government, destroying the Marines, that's what I've been doing, Sengoku. You shouldn't believe my days of absence have been idle. On the contrary…" the window reflected his figure as he walked towards it and came to rest a hand on the somewhat warmed surface. "This war, bloodshed…this end you see before you, is my creation." He watched Sengoku's twisted expression in the glass and turned, smiling pleasantly, to see it more clearly. "Bartholomew Kuma has been an ally of mine since before he became a Shichibukai. He saved the Straw-Hat crew from Kizaru and he sent Luffy to Boa Hancock. True, I did not know how he would be able to get to Marinford from this location, but I gave him the opportunity by splitting his crew and by providing access to a Marine ship that would be able to bring him here. You say I cling at this war? I helped mold the previous one and I completely control the one that burns outside these walls." He walked to the middle of the room, standing at a closer angle to better see the Marine's expression of anger, dismay, and a dark, almost respectful awe. "I discovered the close relation between my son and Red-Hair and I set forth to utilize Red-Hair's power and resources for a better cause, rather than leave him to waste them on something such as simple piracy." He sighed and continued to smile slightly, looking past his reflection at the war. "I've done him a favor, though he may never come to realize it. If he decides to break away from my purpose, sadly, I will simply have to dispose of him."
"And how could you find yourself doing such a thing?" Sengoku narrowed his eyes, but interest brightened a spark within them.
"I already have, Sengoku." He watched Sengoku's reflection, his eyes focusing between him and the battle. "When he told me that Boa Hancock had left and drugged Luffy, that she had protected Luffy from Gecko Moria…and how my father would spend his nights by Luffy's bed as Boa Hancock did the same….I discovered their connection and easily saw their plan to seek aid from Red-Hair directly. He would have to get to the island in order to do so…they would have to reach the hospital wing…."
"How do you know these things?" Sengoku breathed. "Bartholomew Kuma couldn't have….how could you even know that Straw-Hat Luffy was alive let alone his exact location in Marinford? And what are you saying? An alliance between Garp and…the pirate empress?" his back lost its rigid posture, trying to process everything that was slowly coming to light. How ignorant he had been! Forgetting to look at what was forming just before his eyes! Instead he had watched the distant horizon and had fallen into the trap that had been dug at his feet.
"Donquixote Doflamingo." Dragon said turning, his eyes sparked at the desolation that filled Sengoku's.
"No! You can't possibly be telling the truth!" Sengoku collected himself with rage. "That man knows no master, he would never become your puppet. I know I haven't overlooked that!" He was aghast, close to accepting Dragon's words, but he couldn't see how Doflamingo's part had been missed when Sengoku had specifically watched the Shichibukai and had worried about him more than about anyone else.
"I greatly appreciate your faith in me, Sengoku." There was a chuckle that soon produced the pink mass of feathers as it walked into the room. Sengoku paled, accepting Dragon's claim, but Doflamingo growled when he saw the expression. "What happened to your conviction? Your strength? Old man, were you always this weak in constitution, that a few obstacles could send you into disarray? Make you panic? Don't make my perception of you wrong, Sengoku, else I'll let Dragon kill you just as he meant to."
Dragon was calm, but without the slightest remnants of a smile.
Doflamingo casually walked to the edge of the white papers. "I was given the chance to take such a stage. I was given access to such enjoyable toys." He shivered with pleasure, his grin twisting and he laughed.
"You've made a mistake Dragon." Doflamingo glared with ecstatic eyes. "No one controls the puppeteer and no one knows his next intention. No one!" Steel wires sliced through the air, flying towards Dragon.
"I do, you fool, Doflamingo." The lightening pierced through the dark windows and Doflamingo maneuvered out of the way, scattering some of the papers further as he slid across the floor. He lunged at Dragon again, before a clash of thunder deafened them and another light erupted from the clouds. Electricity lit the wires and made Doflamingo's glasses gleam over his wide eyes. Sengoku was speechless as random pink feathers flared and curled and the man fell to his knees. Doflamingo's nerves were being overwhelmed by the sudden surge of energy and his legs had given out, stunned for the moment and his mind traced back to Shanks' reaction, losing sight of reality before him.
"I am the heavens. I can see above your stage." Dragon stood over Doflamingo who couldn't look up. Dragon raised his hand and static crackled in the air, but never met its target as it was displaced by another. A stretched arm grasped Dragon's and Luffy used his grip to pull himself into the room, aiming to collide with the man whose arm he held, but Dragon left his grasp and Luffy stopped by Doflamingo.
Sengoku was dumbstruck by what was going on, but he was still capable of being distracted by Doflamingo's skeptical expression.
"Straw-Hat." Doflamingo watched the figure of the boy out of the corner of his eye, not looking through the lens of his sunglasses.
"Who are you?" Luffy glanced at Doflamingo who was almost his height while sitting. Doflamingo laughed, but it was lacking most of the cruelty that Sengoku usually found in it. It dripped with irony. Sengoku remained silent, unable to voice any questions.