"What is that?" One of the Dressrosi cry. The woman points in horror to the castle and Zoro knows before he turns.

The sky is black and red, lightning crackling around the castle as battle rages in the epicenter. There is war and violence and perfect victory, a clash of a burning bell and screeching violin. There is a demonic chorus of the damned warring against the sonorous orchestra of a vengeful angel. There is a mad king bent on destruction and a smooth wall of careless wrath to meet him. Lucy's will is the herald of a champion, bent on rising up, and Doflamingo's the march of an old conqueror, fighting to keep his place.

She is a force of nature, and he is stone itself.

Around them, some Dressrosi drop into unconsciousness, foaming at the mouth. The combatants' power wreathes the island, saturates the air and earth itself. Zoro feels the wills of Doflamingo and Lucy break against his own even this far away, but he does not so much as blink.

Beside him, Usopp yelps and covers his ears in disbelief, moaning Lucy's name in something close to terror and burgeoning on awe. Zoro watches on, feels it as Lucy seeks to conquer the sky itself, and waits for Lucy's power to crest and break over Doflamingo's with the ring of an echoing belfry as he knows it will. As it must, for Lucy is going to be King—

There is Torao—prone from exhaustion, frustrated, and swearing on the outside while weeping on the inside.

There is Doflamingo—towering over him, smiling, a demon come back from the brink of death, about to trade Torao's soul for his.

There is a foot above Torao's head, the heel sharp enough to crush his skull.

Lucy's body moves on its own, a blink and a something less than a thought carrying her forward. There is a single sandaled foot poised above the labored body of her friend, and it stops Doflamingo cold.

There is a moment of silence in which Lucy looks without really seeing, and there is nothing on earth but Torao's soft swearing and choked breaths.

"How dare you stop me?"

Lucy's foot doesn't move at all, she doesn't so much shake or tremble despite the strain, and she looks up at the giant of a man that hurt her friends and who wants to continue to do so.

She knows her expression is ice, but there is fire within her, burning and licking through her body and mind, and her will is stronger than it ever was.

Between them Torao whimpers—once, quietly, but it is enough. It is too much.

"I was just looking to smash Law's head!"

He rears back, his leg glinting black and Lucy swings her own foot forward.

They clash over Torao's body and Lucy could not hold back her will if she wanted to.

She doesn't want to.

There is fire within her and fire without, a veritable storm of chaos and heat as Conqueror's Haki rips up her spine and out from her like lightning, like destruction and creation itself. There is cold calm certainty within her, an inexorable storm of passion and fury that will lead her toward her goal, an instinctive brand upon her soul compelling her to rise, fight, defeat and win, one that informs her that victory is certain as breath, as the sun and the earth itself. She is a lightning rod of calamity and as her will rises higher, higher, seeking to crest and tide over the wall of Doflamingo's own, she feels the floodgates unlock inside her, the caged beast within no longer constrained by the casing of a thousand seals.

Doflamingo's will lashes cruel and electric against hers, but he is nothing, no one, not in the face of her, and as she holds his gaze unabashed and unrestrained, she knows she will win.

Beneath their feet Torao gasps, choking on the force of their collision, and Lucy pays it no heed.

Black-red light spews between them, arcing apart at the points where their wills do battle. Power creates a vacuum, sucks air from between them, ruffles their clothes with wind, and Lucy presses forward, forward, ever forward as the giant of a man tries to crush her with legacy and intimidation alone.

But Lucy is not a slave. Lucy is free and Lucy has will.

Power compresses matter between them, sparks light and fire, their warring souls made manifest. Torao is blown back and away by the force of it as stone crushes under their feet, and as Doflamingo leans in to try and put her down she leans up and forward to scrabble at his bloody throne.

From far away, it seems, a voice reaches her.

"And so his divine right is revealed to you, Straw Hat! His birth nurtured madness within him! His fate fed him anger! The world changed this man into a perfect demon! No less, the ultimate evil, hand-crafted by heaven and hell! Doffy is the true king who was chosen!"

She hears the words. She sees their truth in the form of the man trying to crush her with a will like a chainsaw against her skin.

But there is nothing inside Lucy capable of capitulating.

This one hurt her friends and Lucy will not rest until he is dethroned, until all his nightmarish deeds have been atoned for, and she will not be overcome.

"SO WHAT?"

There is another breaking within her, another molten well of power greater than the first and there is the cresting tide, the flinting shale of Doflamingo's will and he is the one who flinches back, just as she knew he would all along.

They will clash again—over and over until they are both bloody and exhausted and one of them stands victorious over the other's broken form, nearly animal in bellicose pride, but for now she has won, and she will do it again and again, as many times as she needs.

Lucy is a king in the making. She bows for nothing and no one but her own will.

With the guillotine that is the birdcage above their heads, Zoro watches Lucy fight Doflamingo with his fist gripping Wado's hilt so tightly his knuckles are white beneath his skin. Their fight has moved away from the castle, into the sky and city of Dressrosa, and he can still sense the continued clashes of their Haki as they beat against one another. Lucy's in a new Gear, one Zoro's never seen before, and he knows it's going to take a hefty amount of restraint to not yell at her for it later. Using that much Haki that quickly and intensely isn't…natural. It's reckless to even try.

He can't fault her for busting it out though—Doflamingo needs to be taken down, by any means necessary.

They're in the final stages of the fight, he's pretty sure. Doflamingo's in better shape than she is from what he can tell, but Lucy's got him on the ropes, and he can't seem to land a hit.

Lucy chases him like a missile, and finally, after a misjudged attack that leaves Doflamingo wide open, he crashes back into the mountain of his new castle. The force of the impact cleaves the south side of the plateau apart, and as the dust begins to clear, Zoro sees Doflamingo's pink coat buried deep in the stone.

"Did she do it?" Kin'emon whispers breathlessly behind him.

Zoro doesn't answer for a moment. There's nothing but silence, and it's like all of Dressrosa holds its breath as dirt and gravel spill off the mountain, willing their tormentor to fall unconscious and return their freedom.

But then, a trembling starts. A vibration Zoro feels deep within the earth, travelling through the leather soles of his boots, and rumbling in his chest almost too light to notice, if he were anyone else.

Screams of terror begin at the edge of the island, and Zoro looks up and grits his teeth because he knows. "It's contracting."

Below, Lucy, too, seems to realize that their guillotine just became a noose, and she rushes Doflamingo once more, her distorted arm winding back for another punch.

But Zoro's been watching her carefully and realizes a moment before it happens that she's going to—

Lucy drops unceremoniously to the city below, her Voice flickering on Zoro's awareness in weak bursts of a muffled wind chime, and he takes off running.

Lucy needs time. Or someone else needs to deliver the final blow. Either way, Zoro's needed at her side, and that's where he's going to be.

He turns to Usopp, Kin'emon, and Kanjuro, clapping his nakama on the shoulder as he goes.

"You three," he says, shoving them forward, "are going to stop the cage."

He gets three blank stares, even as he moves them over to Kanjuro's shitty ladder.

"Er," Usopp says awkwardly. "…what?"

"Stop. The cage." He orders, pointing to the birdcage above their heads. "And find Franky, have him help." Hopefully he's destroyed the factory by now.

"Er…how?" Usopp asks, bewildered.

"Push," Zoro orders sternly. Usopp squeaks.

"That's not a thing a normal person can do!" He protests. Zoro shoves him over the edge unceremoniously, raising an unsympathetic eyebrow when he clings to the thick black posts that make up the ladder and doesn't move.

"It's one man's power," Zoro sneers. "Figure it out."

Usopp moans a little, but Kanjuro and Kin'emon cajole him into moving, and they make their way down with a certain mix of resentment, bewilderment, and haste.

Zoro nods to Viola. "Get as many people pushing on the cage as you can." There's a glint in her eyes, as she nods in return, and Zoro suddenly understands how this woman made it for a decade living under Doflamingo. Love Cook never stood a chance with her—she's way out of his league.

Right. Time to find his girlfriend.

Zoro draws Shusui and Kitetsu, coats them in Haki, does a quick check of the area below, and jumps off the side of the plateau.

There's a chorus of gasps and protests from behind him, but Zoro just grins and twists in midair, and stabs his katana into the stone. The earth and brick part easily under his blades and will, offering just enough resistance to let him control his descent. A trail of gravel follows him down, the hilts of his katana biting into his hands as they protest this particular use, but Zoro ignores it and the strain in his shoulders as he holds himself in careful form. He doesn't have time to do this nicely.

Soon the earth begins to curve away from him—inward, to the narrower base of the plateau. Zoro checks his place, draws his blades out from the stone just a little, and swings his legs back and out once—twice—

He pushes off the plateau, blades in hand, and easily clears the rooftop of the building below. He hits the terracotta tiles hard, and rolls his momentum off over his soldier. He slides a little as he goes, the rooftop vaulted and covered with poor footing, but he manages to get his feet under him before he slides off entirely. He stands up over the edge to gain his bearings.

"WHEN DID YOU BECOME A NINJA?" Usopp demands from the ladder. "THAT'S NOT FAIR, I JUST GOT MUSCLES!"

"He's not a ninja, Raizo's a ninja," Kanjuro replies.

Zoro rolls his eyes. "Go stop the cage!"

"HOW?"

"I believe Zoro-dono mentioned pushing."

"That's not possible."

Zoro ignores them, setting his sights on the dusty streets below. This is a tall building, and Zoro guesses he's about six stories up. Probably too high to jump without breaking something, and judging from the screams of the Dressrosi up ahead, they don't have time to wait for Zoro to hobble around on a broken ankle.

He swears and starts running across the rooftop, straight for where he senses Lucy. He's surprised she's conscious, at all, with the fluttery way her Voice chimes in his senses.

At the edge of the rooftop is another—this one only a story down or so. Zoro jumps, and jumps again when he spies a balcony, two levels down. He grabs the bannister and vaults down to the street below. Dust kicks up around his feet but he hits the ground running.

The whole island shakes as the birdcage contracts. The little vibrations were obvious from the plateau but they're even stronger here.

Doflamingo needs to die. That's all there is to it.

The streets are confusing—they'd be unfamiliar even without all the destruction the possessed Dressrosi, Marines, and pirates have wreaked on it, but he suspects even Nami would have a difficult time navigating this. It's all rubble and half-destroyed buildings and fire, the cobblestone cracked in places and entire neighborhoods squashed to pieces where Pica stood earlier.

It's a good thing Zoro's always been able to find Lucy when he needs to. It's hard to get lost when he's just making a beeline for her faint presence up ahead.

He whips around a corner, blades out, and nearly decapitates a surprised Marine as he hurtles over rubble.

Zoro doesn't stop for him, doesn't even acknowledge the almost-manslaughter, but half a block ahead a man in white and purple stands pensively amid the rubble.

He hates to do it, but he slows to a wary walk as he approaches. This guy's an admiral, and even if Zoro's not great at reading people, he can still sense the fury radiating off of him. If he decides to attack, there's not much Zoro will be able to do but fight, and if that happens he's likely not going to get to Lucy in time.

The admiral doesn't attack. The admiral doesn't even move, his unseeing eyes locked on something red at his feet.

The man in the gambling hall was kind, he remembers. Lucy liked him.

It must gall a kind man with strength like his to abide by the likes of Doflamingo.

"Pirate Hunter," the admiral greets.

Zoro doesn't respond. He's just realized that the heap of blood and flesh at the admiral's feet is a child, half-crushed under rubble. It's impossible to tell what the child looked like, or even the gender. From the size…it was maybe a six-year-old. He can tell the throat was slit before rubble fell on the body though.

Zoro stops before the admiral, the dead child halfway between them, his fists clenched around his katana. Kitetsu wails for vengeance and Shusui is the maw of a void, and it takes strength Zoro did not always possess to hold himself in check, to not barrel straight past this scene and on to its perpetrator.

"I assume you are off to assist your captain," the admiral says softly. Zoro is not stupid enough to mistake that tone for anything but righteous fury.

The kid probably bled out before being crushed. Zoro does not know if that's better or not.

"We're going to bring Doflamingo down," Zoro says matter-of-factly. He takes in the trembling hands, the slight shaking of the loose stones around them, and has a realization. "You're Navy, right? So you can't touch him."

The lower half of the admiral's face is hidden behind his scarf as he ducks his head in what might be shame. "That seems to be the way of it."

Zoro scrutinizes him a moment more. There's a reason he never wanted to join the Marines, aside from his general authority issues. He takes oaths seriously, would never be able to bend rules to the situation as a Marine like Smoker does. He wonders if this man isn't the same. He wonders why he took the job, if that's the case.

"Our crew is trying to stop the cage," he tells him. "Your duty won't stop you from helping, right?"

Scarred eyes lock on Zoro. It feels like a test.

Zoro stands his ground.

"…I am betting on your captain, Pirate Hunter," the man says finally. A small, tremulous smile creases the weathered face. "If she's anything like you, I think I made the right decision."

Zoro does not move, but the admiral does. He carefully drapes his pristine white cloak over the child's body. Blood seeps through the cloth quickly, but it is all they can do for now.

"You pirates are absurd," the admiral tells him, sounding almost fond. "But then, a good gamble always is."

And with that, the admiral walks slowly past Zoro, pausing only a moment more. "I'm counting on your captain and your crew, though I suppose you do not need me to tell you that."

Zoro huffs. Zoro takes orders from one person only, and if Lucy could ignore a situation like the one they're mired in, he wouldn't follow her the way he does. He wouldn't be half as in love with her either. "Damn straight."

The admiral snorts. "Best of luck to the Straw Hat Pirates then."

Not many pirates get a blessing like that from a Marine Admiral, Zoro muses as he runs for Lucy's weak presence. He's not far away now, only a few blocks to go.

Then again, he thinks, a vicious grin splitting his face. They're the crew of the Pirate King. Why shouldn't they be the exception?

Zoro finds Lucy leaning on shaking arms, and despite the situation, despite the weakness in her frame, it sends a spike of relief through his gut.

If Lucy's still awake and struggling to stand, then she's still trying to fight, and that means she's not anywhere near as bad off as she's been before.

She doesn't seem to sense him as he approaches, just trembles as she tries again and again to push herself to her feet. He replaces his katana to their sheaths, and she doesn't even turn her head to look up at him when he approaches. He kicks debris and rock aside as he kneels before her and grasps her shoulders, pulling her up a bit. She feels too hot under his hands, like an open flame, and he studiously ignores the tacky blood smeared across her belly, the gash on her hip exposed by the open shirt, and the wounds that look like bullet holes scattered across her torso.

She blinks blearily at him, her eyes dull with exhaustion and horrifically red with burst blood vessels—probably from the strain of overusing her Haki. Lucy's head rolls back on her shoulders, uncoordinated and nearly limp. "Zoro?"

"You're an idiot," he greets. He doesn't let his concern bleed into his voice.

Her lips twitch up in response, just a little, and she leans into his hands. He can't tell if she means to or if it's just her exhaustion speaking. "So're you."

"Yeah, but I can move," he retorts. He leans a little closer, trying to get her attention. Her eyes aren't quite tracking his face, and he wonders if she has a concussion on top of everything else. "The birdcage is still up."

Something dark and molten flashes in Lucy's eyes, and her right hand struggles up to grasp the lapel of his jacket in a weak grip. "I need…ten minutes."

Zoro nods, doesn't feel a shred of doubt or skepticism. If Lucy says she needs ten minutes, she needs ten minutes. "I can get you that."

Behind him the mountain explodes again, and Zoro doesn't even have to look to know it's Doflamingo coming after Lucy. The screams of the Dressrosi citizens speak for themselves. So too does the stampede of people rushing past them in their desperation to get away. Not a one of them stop to help their would-be savior.

They're pirates. It's not like Zoro expected any different.

Lucy slumps forward, her forehead bumping against his shoulder. She makes a frustrated noise as her strength fails her again, and Zoro shifts a little, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders to let her lean a little more comfortably against him.

Okay. Doflamingo's coming. He needs to get Lucy to a safe place, and keep him occupied for ten minutes while she recovers.

Shit. There's nothing but rubble around here. He's going to have to pick her up and run—

"Luffy?"

Zoro looks up at the voice, his right hand sliding instinctively to his katana. He relaxes when he sees a girl with long pink hair and a green cape, the handle of one of the Dressrosi broadswords poking out at a nearly-bare hip.

It's the ostracized princess, and her dark eyes are wide and locked on Lucy's exhausted frame.

Lucy twists a little, trying to look at the other girl. Zoro takes pity on her, and helps her move, sliding her back and into his chest.

"Rebecca…?" She breathes. "What're you…what're you doing here?"

The girl's fists clench at her side, and her lower lip trembles. "I—"

"Princess!"

All three of them look up to see a large man in a golden helmet throw himself into a kowtow at the teenage gladiator's feet. Rebecca, for her part, blinks at him in shock, taking an instinctive step back and away from him. "Gyats…?"

Lucy's fist closes around Zoro's collar as she tries to pull herself up. "Announcer man?"

"From the colosseum?" Zoro asks absently. He's keeping his senses trained on Doflamingo, paying attention to the line of fire and blood as it draws closer and closer.

Shit, he needs to go, get Lucy out of here—

"I am shamed, Princess!" Gyats declares, his forehead pressed into the broken earth. "For years I allowed your humiliation! I participated in your oppression! You, a member of the innocent royal family who guarded Dressrosa well for the longest period of peace our nation has ever seen!" The man's voice breaks. "I am in a lifetime of debt, but I wish to make amends, starting now!"

Rebecca looks overwhelmed, completely bewildered. "You—I—you don't owe me—"

"I do!" Gyats insists. "I owe you my pride!"

"Oi!" Zoro interrupts. Normally he wouldn't interfere, but Doflamingo's close, too close, and he is not letting that bastard anywhere near Lucy until she can throw a proper punch again. He levels his gaze on the girl, shock plain on her face. "You. What're you doing here."

"I—I—" She glances at Gyats, still prostrated and shaking before her. She lets out a breath, uncertainty filling her eyes. "I'm not—sure."

Zoro growls, frustrated. "Are you here to help or not?"

Something blinks into Rebecca's eyes. Something like hope or determination or an answer. "Yes."

Zoro juts his chin to Lucy, still leaning against him, her eyes half-closed, like she's close to passing out. "Can you protect her for ten minutes?"

Lucy makes a questioning noise into his shoulder, but he says nothing in response.

Rebecca's eyes widen. "I—I—" Her shoulders slump. "I'm a pacifist."

Zoro feels his aura darken. "You're a what?"

"I'm a pacifist!"

"It's true, the royal family has always—"

"And that's worked out well for you all, has it?" Zoro snarls, and he grips Lucy a little tighter. Her head lolls weakly into his neck. He can feel Doflamingo approaching, too close, too close, too close. "Pacifism's gonna get rid of that cage, is it?"

Rebecca goes pale, her mouth thinning in anger. "To harm another is—"

"Is that all you think a sword is for?" He asks darkly, impatient.

The girl's eyes water. "My mother—"

"I don't care," Zoro interrupts. "I heard you and the king. You think you're gonna worry about 'losing yourself' when you're dead? When everybody's dead, because you refused to protect the person you chose to save you?"

Rebecca says nothing. Gyats stares at him agog, eyes wide with shock or affront or both.

Lucy tugs weakly on his collar. "Zoro…it's their code."

"Yeah," Zoro agrees, refusing to take his eyes off of the girl. "And it's stupid. It makes them beg for other's protection." For Lucy's, in particular, and it's put her in a state so weak she can't even stand.

He'd follow Lucy's orders no matter what, but he disdains of the idea of protecting people unwilling to fight for themselves. He knows Lucy does too, that she wouldn't have been so willing to confront Doflamingo if the Tontattas hadn't planned a rebellion themselves, if Trafalgar hadn't gone and gotten himself shot.

Rebecca flinches. Zoro holds her gaze steadily, forcing her to see reality for what it is.

Then her eyes flit to Lucy, and something steels within them. Her spine straightens, and Rebecca's hand comes to rest on the hilt of her sword.

"Gyats," she says, her eyes still on Lucy, and Zoro can see her watch his captain's labored breathing. "Do you remember my family's creed?"

The big man gulps and nods. "War is upon us, your majesty."

"I shall not lose myself within it," She responds. Something sets in her jaw. "Alright. I can do it. Protect her."

"Princess!" Gyats protests. "Your promise! For years, you—"

"I refused to fight in the arena because there was no reason to," Rebecca says calmly. "It was a game. A spectacle." She shakes her head sharply, like she's trying to dispel her own foolishness. "That was about reminding Dressrosa of who we once were. Who we weren't when under Doflamingo's reign." Her eyes sharpen. "This isn't a game. This is about life. About who we might be one day, if we don't lose ourselves entirely." Rebecca turns to Gyats, her voice rising. "I want Dressrosa to live! I want us to be free! I want us to defend that freedom, not fear another cage, or wait for another rescuer!"

The big man's eyes well with tears. "Princess!"

Rebecca shakes her head. "If you wish to help, you can carry Luffy. I'll make sure nothing harms her." This last is said to Zoro, and the weight of her gaze makes him trust the words.

Gyats hesitates for a moment, uncertain. "Yes, Princess. Yes, I can—" He stands, and turns to Zoro, holding out his arms, expectant.

Zoro slides his right arm under Lucy's legs and lifts. She feels too light, weak as she is, and the stillness about her is just wrong. She makes a faint noise of pain as he moves to the big man, and he sets her in the announcer's arms as gently as he can, accounting for speed.

"Ten minutes, right Lucy?" He asks. Lucy blinks at him, bleary-eyed, and nods. Zoro quirks a grin. "If you're a second late, I'm finishing him off myself."

Lucy frowns at him, surprisingly forceful for the state she's in. "I want to hit him," she whines.

Zoro's grin turns a little savage, and he reaches for his bandana. "Don't be late then."

Lucy pouts, but Zoro turns to Rebecca. "You. Make sure she's safe." There are enemies other than Doflamingo, and even if Zoro's keeping him occupied, the shichibukai's range inside the birdcage is…unfortunate.

The princess' eyes flash, and she draws her sword, holding it at a casual ready position. "I'll protect her."

Zoro believes her, and turns his back on all three of them. "Go. He's coming."

"Zoro," Lucy croaks, and he sees a little blood bubble up on her chin out of the corner of his eye. "He cut off Torao's arm." Lucy's eyes dart to his katana, and Zoro understands.

If he did the same to you, he could hurt your dream. Don't underestimate him.

It's not a lack of faith. It's not even concern. It's much more visceral than that. It's the knowledge of what an injury like that could do to Zoro and his goals. It's a will to protect something much more important to Zoro than his life, than his limbs.

Sure, Zoro will still be the World's Greatest if all he could use was his teeth—so long as there is breath in his body, he will be the World's Greatest. But losing a limb would be a setback. A terrible one that would cost him the use of a sword forever, since he would refuse any prosthetics Franky could make him.

Lucy knows that. She knows that because she knows him, and remembered even when she was only half-conscious, and he loves her so goddamn much sometimes he can't breathe.

"Got it," he tells her, and sets Wado Ichimonji between his teeth, the flat edges of Shusui and Kitetsu facing the oncoming threat as he crouches in a defensive position, the hilts of his swords before him for ready offense.

There is fire—too close, much too close for comfort. Doflamingo is less than a block away, and the retreating footsteps behind him aren't moving fast enough to be reassuring.

His senses flash in warning, and beneath his feet an arcing knot of razor-sharp strings burst from the earth. He jumps back and out of the way just in time, crossing his blades before him defensively to block. The strings are not tied to each other though, and they burst around his katana, forcing him back a step as he instinctively protects his face.

Zoro narrows his eyes. This is going to be annoying, especially if the strings in each spear can move individually like that. Their flexibility is a problem.

Behind him, he hears Rebecca gasp, and a grunt as the Princess tackles the announcer, deflecting a spike of bloody string as she does.

Lucy remains untouched, just as the princess promised. Zoro can sense it without even looking.

He channels Haki into his blades. Strings that sharp are bound to leave a mark.

A dark laugh bubbles up within the encroaching flames. Zoro narrows his gaze.

"Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro. Demon of East Blue, and First Mate of Straw Hat Lucy." Horned glasses flash in the blazing light. "Didn't you fall in a hole earlier?"

Zoro doesn't respond. The closer Doflamingo gets, the worse he looks. He's starting to wonder if the guy will even make it the ten minutes before Lucy comes back to kick his ass.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose," Doflamingo continues. His steps are slow and methodical, like he hasn't a care in the world. Beneath his feet, a sick coil of string writhes, the white strands black with blood. "You have some skill with the sword, but you can't beat me." The man's smile turns sadistic and manically gleeful. "You'd be captain of your own crew if that were possible."

Zoro raises an eyebrow. "You're Lucy's opponent, not mine." Zoro smiles around his katana. "You'd be dead already, were it up to me."

Doflamingo presses on, like he thinks he's gotten to Zoro somehow. "A bleeding heart, held in line out of, what, loyalty? Duty?" Doflamingo's lip curls. "Obedience, like the rest of humanity's drones?"

Zoro nearly laughs. He's never been accused of being too emotional before, that's for sure. Or obedient, jeez. "Lucy's my captain, not my master. And I wouldn't kill you for what you've done to this island." The image of the dead and bloodied child flashes in his mind, and Zoro privately admits that statement is not quite true.

His senses scream and on his left a thick coil of string races for his head.

But he's seen it once. He's not going to be moved again.

He leans over at the waist, one foot back for balance, and carves the deadly strike in two with a single horizontal slash carrying enough force to cleave a mountain in half.

The string falls harmlessly to the ground, neatly cut to pieces.

Doflamingo chuckles, like he's amused. It's creepy because Zoro can sense the rage boiling off of him, can feel his will batter against Zoro's own, but it does nothing, burns less than the sun on a clear day. "Oh? Then what would you kill me for?"

Zoro's lips curl around his blade, "I'd kill you," Zoro starts, rage bleeding into his aura and he knows in that moment he is violence personified, Kitetsu howling in echoing bloodlust alongside his heart. "Because you put bullet holes in my captain." His blades arc in one quick slash to carve a long line in the rubble before him. It stretches across the plaza they stand in, as far as the eye can see, just a few inches deep. "But she's claimed your head. I'm only here to buy her time." Zoro thinks of the dead child, of the blood on Lucy's body, and relishes in the wary pause he gets from his opponent as his aura turns into something dark and terrible, a presence even monsters would do well to fear.

"For the next ten minutes, you won't move past this line," the swordsman declares, and Zoro's smile is full of ivory knives. "A single step over, and I'll consider it a loss."

Doflamingo cocks his head, arrogant. "You're an arrogant one, aren't you?"

You got a problem with that, Pirate King?

Zoro crosses his blades before him, unbothered, his blood boiling for a fight as his grin becomes something feral. "It's simple. I made a vow."

Zoro needed more to do in Dressrosa, so I had him go stop Doflamingo during the ten minute interim. While I totally agree that attempting to stop the birdcage and inspiring everyone else to do so is absolutely something Zoro would do, this made more narrative sense in terms of character, I thought. But to make it make even more sense, the birdcage didn't start contracting in my version until Doflamingo got thrown into the mountain. And it was going its faster speed the whole time. There was no good way to specify that unfortunately. If I were Oda I probably would have had the other crewmembers all go to stall Doflamingo, but since this is, at its heart, very much a story about Zoro and Lucy's relationship, this is what we've got.

If Lucy seems a lot more arrogant and careless while using Conqueror's Haki, it's because she is. I think that's kind of the nature of the ability—a rock-solid belief that one cannot be beaten, and a focus on that to the exclusion of all else in a hard fight.

Just in case anyone's curious, I imagine Doflamingo's Conqueror's Haki sounds quite similar to "O Fortuna," crossed with Camille Saint-Saëns' "Danse Macabre." Another good one would be Prokofiev's "Dance of the Knights." I imagine Luffy/Lucy's as being an unholy mix of Gustav Holst's "Mars," the last 2-3 minutes of Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture," and the first movement of Beethoven's 5th. Idk. Maybe Dvorak's "New World Symphony" as well, especially the last two movements. If you could somehow then cut this mixture with a splash of death metal, I think we'd all get pretty close.

(If Law ever developed Conqueror's Haki, his song would be Mozart's "Requiem." Zoro's would be Gustav Holst's "Mars" as well, and just that. Just saying.)

The fact that Haki is a thing that can be drained and overused confuses me. Because, as I understand it, that would be like overusing your hearing, or sense of smell, and that? Isn't possible? Especially in the case of Observation Haki, but from what I understand, Armament is like the defensive form of Conquerors, as one of my readers put it once. So to exhaust Armament Haki would be like exhausting your will, right? It's not exactly like it's a muscle, right? So how is it possible to drain it?

Let me know what you thought!