SailorStar9: With Chapter 225 uploaded, I present Chapter 226 of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Guest: No, Trebol's Fruit remained intact (for once), waiting to be respawned later. Also no, I don't think Doflamingo is going to join the crew; I'm guessing the only reason Luffy calls him Mingo is because Luffy sucks at remembering long names.
Pairings: Married!Ace/Sasha, Sibling!Luffy/Sasha, Sibling!Sabo/Sasha, Background Protector!Law/Sasha
Disclaimers: One Piece belongs to Oda EiichirÅ-sensei. Me, on the other hand, own absolutely nothing, except my OC, the pairing and the fic idea.
Chapter 226: Arc 14: An Intense Battle! Law vs. Doflamingo!
"Sasha, you're not going to interfere with Torao and Mingo?" Luffy asked, tending to the injured Bellamy.
"No," Sasha replied. "I know Law's reasons for insisting on this fight; it is his right to take out Doflamingo. That's why... we'll have to sit this out."
Cora-san, Law snapped out of his memories as he went on the offensive against Doflamingo. The tears you shed for me, I won't ever forget them. Side-stepping Doflamingo's punch, he leapt to attack again.
"What's the matter?" Doflamingo mocked, both fighters skidding to a stop. "Is that it? You were just playing in my hands, after all. You can't get away from me." he brought out his flint gun and started shooting, Law deflecting the bullets with his sword.
"I came to see you at my own will." Law fired back.
"Will?" Doflamingo echoed.
"I told you." Law clashed with Doflamingo's Armament Haki. "I'm here to settle things up from 13 years ago: to attain that man's long-cherished ambition." both adversaries crossed paths.
"That's what I meant when I said you were just playing into my hands, Law." Doflamingo chuckled, his Armament Haki having fended off Law. "The crap that you call 'your own will' or your freedom, they're all mine."
"Shut up!" Law snapped, both parties pulling the distance between them. Cora-san, when I truly become free will be when I fulfill your dream. He swore, charging in at Doflamingo again. "Room!" he activated his sphere. It's when I stop Doflamingo. "What do you think of Monkey D. Luffy? I didn't know that you were a Celestial Dragon until today. Shambles!" he teleported himself behind Doflamingo, avoiding the older pirate's clawed hand. "What do you think of the 'D'?" he questioned, stabbing his sword right at Doflamingo's back.
"It's none of your concern." Doflamingo stopped the blade with a Armament Haki-coated hand. "So are you saying that Straw Hat Luffy was led by destiny and come to kill me, who has godly blood in my veins? How idiotic."
"I'm a 'D', too!" Law confessed, his sword was knocked off by Doflamingo's clawed hand, he himself had imbued Armament Haki on both his arms to shield against the Celestial Dragon's attack.
"Torao is..." Luffy gasped. "One of us?"
Reclaiming his weapon, Law relaunched his attack.
"You're a 'D'?" Doflamingo growled, forcing Law on the defensive. "Is that your secret name? You're destined to be here; is this what you are saying? You think you can stop me because you're a 'D'? The Family of 'D' is the sworn enemy of the gods? That's just a superstition." he grabbed Law's sword by the blade.
Reactivating 'Room', Law readied an 'Injection Shot' as he waited for an opening. "Injection Shot!" he thrust his blade straight into Doflamingo's abdomen. "Cora-san was fully aware of it." he stated. "If I could defeat you with just my name, it would've been so easy. But that was just the catalyst. I'm here because the kind-hearted Cora-san couldn't pull the trigger that day. I'm only here to pull it on his behalf."
"Was this crap what you were referring to as the 'trigger'?" Doflamingo spat out the blood in his mouth and side-stepped Law's blade. "I don't like it." he frowned.
"Room!" Law formed a sphere that encased the palace and charged in at Doflamingo, sword drawn.
Doflamingo simply blocked the blade with Armament Haki and kicked Law backwards.
"Counter Shock!" Law burst out from the smoke, electricity crackling between his thumbs.
Doflamingo merely dodged the attack, gravity making Law to fall on his face. "I'm really disappointed in you." the older pirate declared.
"Takt!" Law sliced off a corner of the Rampart Tower and sent it falling onto Doflamingo. Chasing after Doflamingo who had shattered the falling stone tower with a Armament Haki-coated fist, he swapped himself out with a piece of rock and reappeared behind Doflamingo. "Mes!" he thrust his clawed hand into Doflamingo's chest to extract the heart.
"Cut the pointless attacks." Doflamingo hissed, grabbing Law by the wrist. "You become quite a gutsy, passionate, little shit. You're not looking at the big picture at all." he chided. "You're forever getting hung up on the meaningless things. That's why you can't seize the moment. You haven't pulled the trigger yet. In fact, you haven't even put your finger on the trigger yet. The weaker a person is, the more he gets hung up on other people's pain and then he self-destructs. If you really want to kill me, you should've stuck to the plan to provoke a conflict between Kaido and me. There are so many ways to get rid of an enemy you're no match for. But by thinking of Corazon, you got emotional and the moment you decided to strike me yourself, you fated yourself to die." he tightened his grip on Law's wrist. "Do you remember the letter from that time? Corazon was trying to save this country, Dressrosa. If only you haven't blown it that day... I'm sure you remember. Because you are sort of responsible for Corazon's death. With that letter, maybe the numerous tragedies that fell upon this country wouldn't have happened."
"You think so?" Law fired back.
"You remained calm." Doflamingo chuckled. "That's smart. You're right. If you ask me, whatever happened to that letter, I would've changed my plans and sat on the throne of this country anyway. Everything Corazon did risking his life, was all in vain after all."
"It's all up to me now." Law retorted "Whatever I do before I die is all attributable to Cora-san's legacy."
"Oh yeah?" Doflamingo mocked. "What a tear-jerking sentiment. That's right. Whatever the tragedy or the blunder is, only the things that actually happened are written in stone. The fact that you ate the Op Op Fruit and ran, or the fact that you are here now after showing your teeth at Punk Hazard..."
"Gomu Gomu no Jet Gatling!" Luffy cut into Doflamingo's rant and punched the older pirate away from Law.
"Straw Hat-ya." Law turned to the younger 'D'.
SailorStar9: Any OOC-nes is regretted. *Sighs* Don't you just hate plot bunnies sometimes? Reviews are much appreciated.
