...

"I still don't understand." My fellow passenger remarked, a huff to his voice as he read through his own piece of work.

It was admittedly rather shortsighted of me not to realise but-

"I don't see how they all connect." The bird groaned. His hand shaking the slightest as he lowered the tea cup onto the nearby table.

We were both currently situated on top of an unnatural cloud, very high into the sky. In fact, high enough that if I'd had a real body, I'd likely be freezing to death. Goda' knows how Morgan's managing it... And high as we were, the manufactured cloud happened to steadily be moving further and further away from Dressrosa.

Honestly, the things you can find in the pirate underworld... Given Bellamy's canon-view, as vague as my memories were surrounding the scene, hinted at the One Piece world not entirely knowing about the, nor believing in, Sky Islands. I hadn't expected to find a genuine working cloud-making machine. I still wasn't sure if it was all advanced engineering or if it was a devil fruit based ability, given the lack of sentience from the machine itself, I figured the former. The machine was currently silently working in the background.

Still! There was, quite literally, a cloud generating machine! Wasn't that a game-changer!?

All the same, my emotions quickly settling down, my presence wasn't exactly needed in Dressrosa anymore, given Shanks had already reached the east harbour. And push comes to shove, Sugar was always an arm's reach away. And, well, given what the visual snails are showing...

Shanks was currently napping in the background, even as his crew-mates genuinely helped out the 'princess.' From helping her and Tontatta's evacuate the toy kingdom ala Jack Sparrowing Kaido's ships, to helping make sure there was a Donquixote hidden amongst each one.

You know... As insurance.

Of course, the fact the Red-hairs had managed to find Roger's Straw Hat might've helped their mood significantly.

I idly sipped the cup of tea, my gaze landing on the live screen view of one Benn Beckman. Just ahead of the table between me and Morgan, stood a stand with quite a number of screens showcasing key points in the island. How the bird had managed to hook all of this up was still beyond me. My attention quickly focused back on the particular screen. The East Blue Genius was directly staring back at the hidden visual snail. A sneer on his face.

He'd of course lived up to his reputation and nickname, having noticed the visual snails set about almost immediately. His eyes narrowing each and every time, though never once speaking up about it. His mind likely dying to understand why. Why they were there.. And what they were for.

The snails after all had only managed to catch them doing good. Nothing that could remotely count as bad publicity. Even now, Morgan's army of flying journalists were currently snapping every shot they could, showcasing the princess's plight, the full story, of course going out with it, and the Yonko lending her a helping hand.

And as it were, it was one of the points Morgan's failed to understand. Though I suppose it was the price of using the Hobi-Hobi No Mi on myself so many times.

Explanations tended to be forgotten as well.

"You hid the entire kingdom under a veil-"

"I am hardly going to risk anyone proving Sugar isn't a princess-"

Morgan huffed, "That's another thing-" I raised a single finger, the bone for a single moment briefly splintering into hundreds of root-like strings. All sharply pointed at the end. The transformation itself was of course accidental, the idea having for a moment filtered through to my head. "Why don't we start at the beginning, I am rather strapped for time."

Mogan's eyes turned wary at that as he straightened himself up. "I thought you said Dressrosa-"

I raised a single eyebrow, the action earning another huff out of the bird.

"Okay." He remarked distressfully, taking a quick sip, his gaze turning down to the table and map between us. "All of that, baiting the Yonko, the hat- All to get Red-hair here." Morgan tapped a single feather on his chin. "I'd thought you intended to start a fight-"

I nodded without missing a beat. "There will be one, every story needs conflict-" My words earned another groan from the bird before me, one finger quickly pointing towards me.

"There, that right there, you keep saying a story! You did all of this for a story?"

I raised another eyebrow, a smile growing on my face. "Well... I can promise you, it's a good one."

Morgan spared me another glance, the bird slowly relaxing back into the cloud-based chair, a wary sigh coming out.

"You bring him here..." He eventually continued. "All of that, to not only hand him your secret weapon-" My eye twitched the slightest at the mention of Sugar. Not that he'd noticed. "But even give him your prize."

"Prize?" I questioned, somewhat bemused, and a little caught off-guard.

Morgan's eyes narrowed, "The Celestial you imprisoned!" He remarked, his eyes the slightest panicked. "You cannot mean to tell me you've forgotten about him... The toy that girl is carrying around!"

I, admittedly enough, almost failed to control myself after hearing those words. My body shaking the slightest as I briefly recalled where I'd ended up shipping the real Celestial Dragon toy too...

With a note asking them to be patient of course.

"I do believe the Kuja pirates will be rather pleased..." I remarked, not entirely sure what the bird had said. Though I'd managed to earn narrowed eyes, the bird's brain likely working overtime as it put each piece together.

"...And why? All to take a few pictures of the Yonko..." He eventually settled for fishing for more information, his shameless look clear for all to see.

I nodded, my irritation growing the slightest as the bird failed, for the thousandth time, to connect the dots.

"We need it for proof."

"Proof..? He says proof... Proof for what? That Red-hair's not pirate material-"

I blinked. "Of course Red-hair isn't pirate material, everyone knows that. I need his stamp of approval because of that!"

Morgan blinked, his eyes sharper then ever as he took another sip.

"All For what..?"

Sighing for the, hopefully, final time.

"What do you think is going to happen, presuming everything stays to script until Big Mom arrives, once all of the toys are onboard Kaido's ships?"

Morgan blinked. "Kaido-"

"Wrong." I deadpanned without missing a beat, earning a twitch for my troubles.

"...Sugar?" Morgan tasted the name on his lips, finding it sour- "If she is as caring as she claims... Then her next job would have to-" Morgan stopped. His eyes blinking rapidly as he stared at me.

"She would have to return the 'Celestial Dragon.'" He remarked, his fingers quoting in the air for some unknown reason as he finished. It was a Celestial Dragon. "Red-hair plans to help her... His name alone could guarantee the princess safe passage. That's why he hasn't left yet... Even after having gotten what he'd wanted back." Morgan's more or less answered one of his earlier questions.

Not to mention his presumed revenge against nobody. "He feels too guilty to leave. Kaido showed up here thanks to him after all," I added on.

"And given the girl can't in fact restore her 'people' without waking up another Yonko..."

"Makes him one of the few in the world that could help her return the 'ticking-time bomb' back to his family." I grinned at the bird, earning a flinch out of him as he realised I wasn't even hiding the fact I was lying.

"... They'll be hard-pressed to ignore an Emperor of the sea's words... And with the emergency meeting happening soon." Morgan continued on, once again wary as he looked me over. "That's why you needed my help. To make sure it's your version- Your side that's told. You forced them into action. Only to demand a vote for yourself." He sighed again. Albeit far more tired compared to earlier.

"And when everything goes pear-shaped~" I sing-songed.

"You have undeniable proof showing Red-hair's involvement..." Morgan's eyes closed. "They'll blame him for it... Attritbute it all to his name-"

"I'll make a pirate out of him yet!" I remarked, Doflamingo's cackle immediately coming out as I got to my feet. "He'll be the Sinon to my Odysseus!" I finished, my hands' outstretched, even as the names failed to earn a reaction out of the bird.

"Who do you intend to send? As your representative?" He questioned instead, his interest clear.

"Like you just said yourself," I continued smiling, slowly leaning back into my chair, my gaze going to the endless sky. "A Celestial Dragon. Fufufu..."Doflamingo's signature laughter coming out at the end, the bird for a moment paling as it finally processed exactly what it had signed up for. And honestly?

I don't think I even needed to say anything at that point. Morgan's stare slowly but surely blanked out as he leaned back into his own seat. His hands trembling the slightest before, to my own surprise, a grin slowly grew onto his face.

"...I dare say I may have to retire after this scoop..."

And wasn't that hilarious?

I'd more or less told this bird that I intended to rip the world government a new one and the only thing he's remotely worried about is an early retirement.

What a world.

...

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