HINA'S POV
"Hina is tired." the pink haired detective thought grumpily, "this day has been far too long."
"Detective Hina, here's the file for the Condoriano case." an intern said, plopping the large folder on her desk,
"Are you ever going home? You do realize that it's almost midnight?" Smoker asked, walking past on his way to his own desk.
"You're one to talk, Chase." Hina replied. The man groaned,
"Don't call me that."
"Your name? Hina will call you whatever she wants." she replied smugly, knowing he couldn't retaliate.
"...I've got your mail, Ma'm." the intern said, holding out the letter. Smoker frowned,
"It's midnight," he pointed out,
"Maybe I didn't see it earlier when I got your mail for the first time?" the intern replied sheepishly, "I can't think of any other reason for it to be there…"
Hina took the plain white envelope and studied it for a moment,
"Seems normal enough. Don't be so careless, Intern." she opened it quickly and was instantly coughing as white powder flew up into her face.
"Prank mail?" Smoker asked, "It's been awhile since we've had an- Oi, Hina!" the man stared in shock as his partner collapsed and lay, motionless, on the floor. "You, call for an ambulance!" he ordered, rushing to check Hina's vitals.
"Yes, Sir!"
"She still has a pulse…" the man muttered, "but it's faint. Stay with me, Partner."
UNKNOWN POV
"Team Charlie reporting. Target one down and unresponsive. Target two out of range and on high alert." The intern put away his radio and turned, heading back inside to help his superiors, trying his best to keep the smug smirk off his face.
KATAKURI POV
Katakuri glared at his hostage, not that the younger man could see him as he hung by his arms, the tips of his toes barely able to touch the ground, blood dripping into his eyes.
"You honestly thought you could get away with this, huh?" he growled, "Snooping around in my territory? Perhaps your boss has gotten a bit too cocky." he lashed out again, the spikes on his gloves digging deep into the flesh of his recently acquired punching bag.
"Th' Young Maste-"
"Can't reach you here." Katakuri finished for the young man, "Honestly, I had heard you were fast, Dellinger, but you're much too obvious to be sneaking around."
"I won't tell you anything!" Dellinger shouted, though, rather than the anger he had hoped for, his captor's response was a low chuckle, as he reached out and grabbed him by the throat,
"I don't need information from you." he informed him, "you'll serve as a message, one that I think I'll send back in pieces." Dellinger's eyes widened as he saw Katakuri's other hand reaching for what seemed to be a large trident, leaning against the nearby wall. "I'm going to enjoy thi-"
"BROTHER!" the door slammed against the wall as it flew open to reveal Cracker, thoroughly ruining Katakuri's mood. He sighed,
"This had better be important, Cracker, I was just getting to the best part."
"Ah, sorry." he..didn't really look sorry as he kept talking anyway, "it's time for dinner, Brulee says she'll be upset if you're late again."
"Very well, I'm coming." he turned to Dellinger, "I'll finish with you after supper. I would invite you to join us if you weren't...otherwise occupied."
Dellinger glared at the man's back as he took his trident and left, though he did wonder why he needed such a weapon for that…
-twenty minutes later-
"Brulee, you've outdone yourself. This is delicious." Katakuri said,
"I hope you didn't get any blood in your meal. It would completely throw off the balance of the flavors." his sister answered.
"Of course not, I know better than that." he replied, "I really didn't get too far into playing with him before Cracker interrupted anyway."
"Why do you always insist on interrogating the prisoners yourself?! Why won't you let me do it sometimes?!" Cracker whined,
"I'm the head-"
"Yes! You're the head of the Charlotte house here, so you should do the boring stuff and look scary and let me have some fun!"
"...If I let you do that, Little Brother, we would never get any useful information. You lack restraint and can't tell if even a child is lying to you." Katakuri responded calmly, "Besides, I do take care of the boring stuff, interrogating people is stress relief."
"I have a report." Mont D'Or said, walking in and doing his best to ignore Brulee's glare.
"Sit and tell me as you eat." Katakuri ordered, "You're late."
"We have searched the rest of the property." Mont D'Or said as he obeyed, "But it seems that the rat you caught was the only one of Joker's men that stuck around."
"...the nerve of that man…" Katakuri growled, absentmindedly crushing the cup he held in his hand, "I'll tear him off his throne and burn his entire empire to the ground."
"Brother! I brought you something!" Flambe exclaimed, running into the room, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere, "This guy was giving out free donuts!"
"Really?" Katakuri's demeanor completely changed at the thought, though it soon returned to its usual state when he realized that what his younger sister held was not a donut, but a bagel.
"Do you love it? Do you?" Flambe asked, grinning. Katakuri swallowed back his revulsion and nodded,
"Yes, thank you, Flambe." he said, "Though, it would make me even happier if you would take that...donut...and throw it into the fire place."
"Okay!" the girl chirruped, rushing across the room to do as he had asked.
"...good riddance...imposter donut…" Katakuri muttered under his breath, just before Flambe said,
"Ooooh, look! It's turning pretty colors!" Her older siblings turned at once to stare at the flames that had turned from their normal red, to a purplish black.
"Get back!" Mont d'Or ordered, pulling the girl away from the fireplace.
"It seems as though someone had just attempted to assassinate me...with a bagel." Katakuri said quietly, "...I've never been so insulted in my life!"
"Now brother, perhaps you should ca-" Brulee began, only to be cut off,
"No! Cracker, gather our forces! I want these people found and destroyed!" the man ordered, picking up his trident, "Paint the streets red with their blood."
UNKNOWN POV
"TEAM BETA REQUESTING IMMEDIATE EXTRACTION...OR BACKUP...OR SOMETHING! WE WERE NOT PREPARED! I REPEAT, WE WERE NOT PREPARED!" the man attempted to continue yelling but found both his hand and the radio he had been using crushed in the iron grip of the feared "Dogtooth".
"I'll only ask this once." the man growled, "who sent you?!"
"Umm..uh….." the mercenary stood frozen in fear and shock, trying to find something, anything, to say, not that it would have mattered much as, seconds later, he found a trident buried in his throat.
"Too slow."
LAW'S POV
"How exactly did your father manage to do this?" Kidd asked, staring in horror at the burnt out husk of what was supposedly a stove.
"...toast." Law answered stoically.
"ON THE STOVE?!" came the shouted response, to which Law shrugged,
"Cora-san, does things his own way. I don't question it."
"I think you should do more than question it considering this is the SIXTH time I've been over here to fix an appliance in the last MONTH!"
"It's not my fault you're the only one your company ever sends here, Eustass-ya." Law pointed out, "and it's not like we can keep Cora-san out of the kitchen."
"The ONLY reason I'm the one that keeps getting sent over here is that the others are all too terrified of your uncle to get within a hundred feet of this place." Kidd pointed out,
"...can't say I blame them. You should work on your self-preservation instincts, Eustass-ya."
"Law." Vergo said as he walked into the room, "Doffy has called a meeting. Bring the repair guy."
"...why?" Law asked, and Vergo scowled at him,
"Don't question the young master! Show some respect!" then he stalked out of the room. Law sighed,
"Ready to meet the family, Eustass-ya?" he asked,
"...do I have a choice?"
DOFLAMINGO'S POV (a few minutes earlier)
"...Dellinger did what?" Doflamingo asked, glaring up at Diamante through his sunglasses,
"He...went to gather information on Dogtooth."
"...and?"
"..he has….not returned...and we can't reach him…" Diamante admitted,
"...and why did you not think to stop him from doing something so idiotic?" Doflamingo asked, "If I had wanted to send someone to gather information on the Charlottes, it would not have been someone as obvious as him!" Diamante held up his hand placatingly in a futile attempt to calm his boss,
"I couldn't have stopped him! He just wanted to help, after all"
"Diamante, you're dismissed. Vergo, inform Law that I wish to speak with him." Doflamingo ordered, the latter stepped forward.
"Law is currently in the kitchen with the repairman from Franky's SUPER Repairs, discussing Corazon's unfortunate incident."
"Tell him to bring the red-head. He won't say anything, not with his background."
Five minutes later, Doflamingo gestured for Law and Kidd to join him at the table and partake in the hors-d'oeuvres one of the help had delivered moments before.
"I thought you said the whole family would be at this meeting?" Kidd drawled as he sat, looking at Law.
"Am I not good enough for you? Obviously, Croc's not teaching you good manners, Kiddo" Doflamingo laughed, and Law sighed,
"What do you need? You never call me unless you want me to do something for you."
"All in good time, first, let's drink to the continued repair of our...very durable kitchen!" This earned the man an unimpressed look from both of the others, though they dare not refuse. The three raised their glasses and gently tapped them together in what might have been one of the most unenthusiastic toasts ever known, before taking a drink. In the next moment, all hell broke loose.
The next few moments were kind of a blur. All Doflamingo could remember was intense pain and suddenly, everything was much larger than it had been before. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it only to come face to face with a large paw as the sound of irritated growls filled the air.
"What the-"
"DOFLAMINGO WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Doflamingo blinked down at what seemed to be a snow leopard growling angrily at him in Law's voice. That would make the massive grizzly bear next to him, Kidd, the repairman. He immediately glared at the only other person who had been in the room, the help, who was currently trying his hardest to get out of the room through a side door, panic written on his face.
UNKNOWN POV
"TEAM ALPHA INFILTRATION UNIT REPORTING IN, WE NEED BACKUP! THE SERUM WAS SUCCESSFUL, TARGET CONFIRMED TRANSFORMED. TWO UNEXPECTED VICTIMS ALSO CONFIRMED TRANSFORMED." the "help" shouted into his radio, "WE HAVE A FLAMINGO, A WILDCAT, AND A BROWN BEAR ON THE PREMISES! HEAVIER WEAPONS NECESSARY!"
DOFLAMINGO'S POV
"Alright, everyone calm down!" Doflamingo ordered, turning his attention away from where the man had disappeared, "I'll just call Corazon and we'll fix this."
He reached towards his phone and froze, realizing at that moment that, instead of hands moving to pick up the device, all he saw were wings covered in bright pink feathers.
"...I'm a bird…" he said in disbelief, "...really?!"
Law made a sound that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle, and Doflamingo glared at him,
"I don't want to hear another sound from you, Law!" he snapped, "WE have much bigger issues!" he turned his attention back to his phone, trying (and failing) to pick up the device with his new feathery appendages...which ended up looking like he was trying to fan the thing.
"You have a stylus, don't you?" Kidd pointed out, "just use your…" he paused a moment to try and fight back his own laugh, "beak."
Doflamingo didn't waste his time glaring at the...bear...though he did give him a few choice insults mentally as he twisted his head to pick up the stylus from where it lay. It took a few minutes, but he eventually managed to enter his password, open the correct app, and type in what he seriously hoped was his younger brother's number.
CROCODILE'S POV
His personal phone ringing was a welcome break from the endless pile of reports that had been pouring in nonstop that day. It was proving more difficult to balance the illegal and legal activities than Crocodile had anticipated.
"Should set up something like birdbrain and his brother have." he mused, glancing at the ringing device, "oh, speak of the devil."
"What do you want this time, Birdbrain? I refuse to work with you." To his surprise, the only answer he received was in the form of a loud, agitated SQUAWK.
Crocodile pulled the phone back, checked the ID, and returned it to his ear.
"Are you attempting to prank me, Birdbrain?" he drawled
"SCREEEEEECH SQUAAAAAAWK!" came the reply.
"Ah…" he was about to hang up but then the phone buzzed, requesting a video chat. He sighed and accepted, wondering if the other man was drunk or something. He froze when the video connected.
"I'll be there in fifteen."