Chapter 4

Luckily for Law, the morning was too hectic for anyone to gawk at he and Luffy's sleeping arrangement. Of course, this was Law, so his luck did not last long. Their plan was currently in shambles; it was doomed to fail before they even docked at the island. Now, Law was locked in seastone handcuffs, and at the mercy of Doflamingo. He hated the way the handcuffs made him feel like he was drowning. It was as though he was floating at the bottom of the sea, powerless to swim up, and lacking the energy to even try. It wasn't just the handcuffs though, just being near Doflamingo made him feel weak and hopeless. It was that way when he was a kid and even more so now. Afterall, Doflamingo was a Celestial Dragon, a god walking among men, how was he or any other supposed to stand against him?

Law lay there on the floor at Doflamingo's feet. He'd already been kicked multiple times: three times in the stomach, four times in his sides, and once in the head. Despite the lack of armament haki infused in Doflamingo's blows, Law still winced at the pain being inflicted. Doflamingo truly was a force all on his own.

"So you really thought you could take me down, huh?" Doflamingo mocked him. His foot slammed down on Law's skull, grinding it into the ground. "Now all I have to do is capture Straw Hat and your alliance will be finished."

"Luffy will not be captured by the likes of you," Law spat. Although, he was not quite sure that was true. Luffy was a strong opponent and an even stronger ally, but Law didn't know if even he would be able to stand up against Doflamingo's menacing power.

As if to challenge Law's previous thought, a large man swinging a sword burst into the room. This had to be Luffy's doing, Law was sure of it. Doflamingo didn't remove his foot from Law's head. Instead, he just stood still as the man swung his sword, slicing Doflamingo's head clean off. Impossible, Law thought. There was no world in which Doflamingo was taken out so easily. Given that his most trusted officials were not reacting, Law knew something was up.

The headless body lifted it's foot off of Law, and, although he was grateful for the pressure to be gone, he was much more worried about what was to come next. While this mystery man was distracted by the headless body, the real Doflamingo appeared behind him to deliver a deadly blow. Just when Law thought the man was done for, none other than Luffy strode into the conflict and tackled the man out of harm's way.

Of course Luffy was here, Law knew he would be behind this pointless skirmish, but, somehow, Law couldn't help but stare in awe at what was happening. Luffy was confronting Doflamingo head on. Law finally started to see a future where they succeeded, finally started to hope that Luffy could pull it off, but then they were all thrown out of the palace by Pica's stone manipulating abilities. They had been on the highest floor of the building, so the fall was going to be deadly. Lucky for them, they had a rubber man on their side.

Luffy quickly inflated his body to act as a cushion for them to land on. Mid air, Law felt an arm wrap around his waist. It was Luffy; he must have realized Law was wearing the seastone handcuffs. Luffy landed on the ground first, and the other falling members bounced off his enormous stomach. Law, on the other hand, was hugged close to Luffy's chest to keep him from being injured any more than he already had been. After Luffy deflated, the remnants of the allies Luffy had made returned to his side. His hand still remained on Law's waist, keeping him uncomfortably close. Before Law could say anything, visual transponder snails around the city began displaying a message for the citizens. Doflamingo was going to play a game with them, each member of their alliance now had a bounty on their heads that the citizens could collect once they captured one. If they did not cooperate with the game, Doflamingo's strings would destroy the city. It was just the kind of sadistic ploy a man like Doflamingo would come up with.

Now there were enemies all around them, and there would be more wherever they went. A large mix of Doflamingo's lackeys and random citizens began to surround them. Luffy tightened his grip on Law's waist, and, before Law could interject, used his other arm to scoop his legs off the ground. Due to the seastone handcuffs, Law was too weak to resist the action.

"Wha- What do you think you're doing, Straw Hat-ya?" Law stuttered as he felt the watchful eyes of everyone around.

"Carrying you," He said matter of factly, "You won't be able to keep up with those on." He nodded his head towards the handcuffs. Law could feel the blood rushing to his face.

"Yeah, but-" he thought for a moment, "There must be another way of doing this."

"No time to think," Luffy responded as he burst into a sprint. No time to think? That was easy for him to say; he wasn't the one being carried as though he'd just been married off. Law turned his attention away from Luffy and was faced with what would surely be their biggest obstacle in reaching the palace. Pica had taken the form of a massive stone giant, and Law could only watch as the Colossal being threw his fist in their direction. Luffy sprang forward to meet Pica's attack, and, to Law's surprise, jumped onto the looming fist rather than destroy it like he expected him to. Maybe Luffy was smarter than Law gave him credit for. The two ran up the stretched out arm, using it as a clear pathway to the palace, and, therefore, Doflamingo. Law bounced up and down in Luffy's arms as he ran.

"Hey, Traffy," Luffy spoke through bated breath.

"Yes, Straw Hat-ya?" Law didn't like talking to him while he was in this situation.

"Put your arms around me."

"WHAT?" Law's face turned a furious shade of red.

"Come on, It'll make you easier to carry." Just as Luffy said it, a stone spike jutted out from Pica's arm. Clearly he was trying to halt their advance. Luffy veered to the side in order to avoid it but nearly dropped Law in the process.

"Urggg. Fine." He took what little energy he had and threw his bound hands over Luffy's head, leaving them to hang around his neck. Dammit, Law thought. Now they really did look like a married couple. As embarrassing as it was, Law knew he had to do it if he wanted to make it to Doflamingo, and Luffy was right- he was bouncing noticeably less now that he'd positioned himself around the other captain.

After escaping Pica's grasp, The two were able to make it back on the palace grounds in time to meet up with more of Luffy's allies. Law made a point to pull his arms off of Luffy before too many people could notice. Thankfully, Luffy took the opportunity to set Law down, although that annoying hand was still kept around his waist. Robin took the opportunity to toss Luffy an object. He caught it and peered down at his hand.

"It's the key to his cuffs," She said.

"Ah, Perfect!" Luffy smiled at Law, "You get to move again!" Law smiled back at him. Truly he was overjoyed to finally be independent again.

"Yes, Perfect." He held up his handcuffs for Luffy to see. "Now get these things off me." Luffy obliged and turned the key into the socket. The cuffs fell off with a click, and a wave of euphoria rushed over Law. He didn't know it was possible to feel this good, and apparently Luffy could tell.

"Feeling better?" He laughed.

"Yes," Law struck out his hand and created a room. "Now let's take down Doflamingo."

"Dammit!" He choked out. "...damit." Law had done everything he could, and, still, Doflamingo stood over him. He'd been beaten, shot, and even lost an arm. Despite it all, he still couldn't overcome his foe. Now Doflamingo's foot hovered over him once again, ready to crush his skull.

"Now I can stamp you out for good," He snickered.

"DAMMIT!" Law screamed as the foot plunged towards him. He closed his eyes in anticipation for the upcoming blow, but it never came. Looking up, Law saw Luffy had come to his aid yet again. His own foot was lifted up, blocking Doflamingo from finishing him off.

"Why did you stop me?" He asked. "I was going to split Law's skull!" He moved his leg around Luffy, determined to put an end to Law's life, but Luffy blocked his blow for the second time. Law couldn't take his eyes off him; he hadn't seen this side of Luffy since Amazon Lily, but he couldn't deny it. Now, at this moment, Luffy truly looked like a devil.

The two clashed, dealing each other blow after blow, but after a minute it became clear this palace would not be a big enough stage for these fearsome figures. The palace floor started to crumble. Law was sure he would be left in the aftermath, but Luffy's arm found its way to his body once again and carried him out of harm's way. Law made sure to hold on to the arm that had been severed as well. If he got to it in time, he should be able to reattach it.

"Luffy! Send Traffy down here!" Robin called down from below the palace.

"Thanks a lot!" Luffy shouted back. "Traffy's already done his part!" With that, he tossed Law down towards Robin where she was able to catch him with a net of arms. Behind them, Luffy and Doflamingo resumed their battle. Robin moved to carry him away from the conflict, but Law stopped her.

"Wait! Put me down and go." Robin looked confused. "If he's going to win then I want to watch it from here, and if he loses then I ought to be killed along with him."

"Traffy…"

"I'm the one who got him involved in this fight! So leave me here!" Seeing that there would be no convincing him, Robin let him down. He leaned up against some rubble left from the crumbling palace and looked towards the sky.

That's where he watched the remainder of the battle, where he saw Luffy's sheer determination, and where he would finally witness the defeat of Doflamingo. Law felt tears invading the corners of his eyes. He couldn't believe it was true. He didn't think he'd ever see the great Doflamingo as beaten and bruised as he was now. Even more than that, he couldn't believe Luffy was real. He was a great hulking mass flying through the air. With one giant fist held aloft, Luffy prepared the finishing blow, and Law knew nothing Doflamingo conjured would be able to save him. Luffy's fist fell and, with a loud blast, knocked Doflamingo back to the ground. The tears began falling down Law's cheeks. Only Luffy remained in the sky with the sun creating a halo of light around him. It was then that Law knew he'd been wrong about Luffy all along, he was no devil. Luffy could only be. . . an angel.

Author's Note

I gotta be honest, this was a tough chapter for me to write. I found it pretty hard to write around the cannon events while still making it feel like an original experience. Hopefully I found a good balance between cannon stuff and my own ideas though. In my original outline, I planned on this story only being 5 chapters, but here we are on chapter 4 and nowhere near the conclusion. The one thing that kept me going through this chapter was the scenes of Luffy carrying Law; that's an image I'm so fond of, I recently commissioned an artist to draw it for me. As always, Thanks for reading!