I don't like you!

by BloodyMarryMe

By pure chance and unluckiness Miyako finds herself at the Sabaody auction house as a slave. And of all the people, the one interested just had to be the most smug, egoistical and sadistic pirate she has ever met. So at least she can give him as much trouble as possible, right? LawXOC

65. Chapter 65

I don't like you by BloodyMarryMe

Disclaimer: This story is rated T for language, violence, blood and suggestive themes.

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying your summer! It's unbarably hot here. T_T Still, even while melting, I delivered the new chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it! :D

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CHAPTER 65

"We're heeereeee!" The young Strawhats' captain shouted from the top of his lungs, throwing his fists high into the air. "I'm gonna find you and kick your ass, Doflamingo!"

"Kanjurooo! We'll save you!" Kin'emin jumped off the ship and yelled just as loudly, standing next to Luffy.

"Idiots! Don't forget the plan," Trafalgar scolded them both as both of their ideas were completely off from what they were supposed to do. "Remember, the exchange with Caesar is just a decoy. Our true goal is destroying the SMILE factory just as I explained. Don't engage in any unnecessary fights and keep low. We don't want to be recognized by anyone when we get into town," the older captain explained, hoping this time the Strawhat would actually listen to him.

"Aright, bro! Where is that petty factory. My suuuper beam will blow it right away! Suuuuper!" Franky the cyborg raised his arms in the air and connected them, making a blue star on his robotic limbs as he made his famous pose to the side.

"Don't yell! W-what if D-Doflamingo hears us!?" Usopp was shaking in his boots as he hid behind Sanji from the unseen enemy.

"Can he really hear us, Usopp!?" Chopper was just as afraid as he easily got drew in by his crewmate's words. Such a gullible fellow, he was.

"There's no way he can," Zoro reassured him with his usual unworried expression.

"I have an idea!" Suddenly, the always-energetic pirate captain jumped onto the little Wano boy, who turned into his zoan form from surprise. As the cloud of mist cleared, a long pink dragon appeared in the place of the young child. "Fly, Momo!" Luffy ordered with a grin, thinking it was the fastest way into town. Obviously, the dragon boy didn't take kindly to the other's coarse actions. The captain was pulling him by his dragon whiskers using them as reins, while tapping his sides with his heels like he would to a horse.

What's more, a dark shadow passed Momonosuke's expression as if he was reminiscing of something awful. "I will never fly!" The boy exclaimed suddenly with determination.

"Huh? What, you scared of heights or something? But you flew before?" Luffy tilted his head, not seeing the problem. He obviously wasn't very attuned to subtle changes in people, so he didn't even notice something wrong about the subject that was bothering Momo.

"You are rude! A warrior is not afraid of anything!" The little dragon bit down on the captain's arm, seething in anger.

"Ouch! Ouch! Wha!? Stop it, you bastard!" The pirate captain, however, showed no restraint even towards kids as he socked Momonosuke right in the face.

"He doesn't even have wings," Chopper commented in confusion to his captain's statement, ignoring the fight that just broke out.

The two started struggling, fighting and hitting each other while throwing insults at the other. "You eel!" "You're too haughty!"

"Luffy-san…he's only eight years old," Brook could feel a sweat drop forming even on his skinless face as he watched his captain become so serious in a fight with a small child.

Sanji sighed beside the musician. "They're at the same mental level, though," he commented with a tone of resignation as he observed the two while lighting another cigarette.

"Stop Momonosuke!" The loud, powerful voice of his father made the Wanokuni boy stop immediately, even if he wasn't quite happy about it. "Luffy-dono saved our lives…be respectful," Kin'emon scolded his son.

"That's right," a woman's voice came from above just before Miyako jumped down from the ship and landed gracefully next to the other samurai. "Save your fighting spirit for the enemy, Momonosuke-kun," the girl grinned and winked at the zoan boy.

"Mmm…" Momonosuke whined in dissatisfaction, still feeling frustrated from his quarrel with Luffy, but unable to do anything about it. Finally, a sight of the orange-haired navigator cheered him up as he remembered one thing that always makes him feel better and is only allowed for him. Something only for his privilege. "Onamiii~" The boy whined as he rushed into the woman's arms, stuffing his snout into her chest while fake tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"Get away!" The perverted trio yelled once more, as they always did when the boy would use his young age to gain sympathy and comfort from Miyako, Robin or Nami. However, as usual, their brash actions only made it worse as it would infuriate Nami or simply gain more affection for the poor, scared boy by the women.

Nami seemed confused by the sudden outburst, but that didn't stop Kin'emon, Sanji and Brook to start a quarrel between them as the two pirates stared at the samurai accusingly. "Kids resemble their parents! Warriors have their heads full of dirty thoughts!" The blonde pointed his cigarette towards the samurai, glaring at him in annoyance.

"Hey, don't pull me into this too! Not all samurai are like that," Miyako scowled at Sanji's comment, placing her hands on her hips as her nostrils flared in anger.

"Aaah, of course I didn't mean you too, Miya-chan!" The cook corrected himself immediately as he leaned in, closer to the girl, much to her disdain for not respecting her personal space again.

The one who decided to calm the situation was the shipwright of the crew as he got the Wano man's attention. "Kin'emon, let's go to the town. Should we dress up?" Despite his words, to Miyako Franky already appeared as if he was dressing up; with his strange braided long hair, which was only one of the various hairstyles he could make with a push of a button. The half-cyborg truly amazed her sometimes, though her astonishment was hardly as die-hard as the one the boys of the crew showed for every ability Franky demonstrated to them.

"Indeed, it would be better if we wear a disguise or wear clothes of Dressrosa, to blend in," Robin suggested.

"You are right." Kin'emon started, pulling out an old piece of paper with a drawing of a man and a woman scribbled on it. "People in Dressrosa all wear these kind of clothes. To blend in, we should definitely dress like this!"

"That's a lie!" Nami yelled back, trying to restrain herself from hitting the samurai again.

The drawing of the man were plausible enough, as the man wore a simple black suit and a dress-shirt. However, the woman had nothing but a skirt of leaves on her waist.

Miyako felt her fangs sharpen at the pathetic attempt to enforce his perviness. She seriously wanted to bite this man's head off right now. *And yet he keeps calling me rude!* "I can't believe I have to be associated with you, you perverted old man! For both of us to be warriors of Wanokuni…I'm the one who should be feeling shamed," the samurai girl yelled at the man, glaring at him while she clutched her fists at her sides in annoyance.

Clearing of Trafalgar's throat turned everyone's attention back to the older captain, calming Miyako's anger as well. He took out a small, plain piece of paper that lightly moved in his fingers; a vivre card. Giving the vivre card to the Strawhats' navigator, the young Shichibukai explained, "Take this. It is a vivre card to my crew, who are at Zou. If something happens, use it."

The mention of the Heart Pirates softened Miyako's eyes, making her nostalgic all of a sudden. "Ah, those guys…I hope they're alright and waiting patiently at Zou." There was a slight smile and a sentimental glint in her eyes as she thought of her crew.

"You should have been there with them," Law stared at her from the corner of his eyes while sighing. It seems he was remembering something troublesome; probably her defying his orders and following him to Punk Hazard.

The girl only smiled sheepishly and gave him an innocent expression as she tried to elude that subject. It was better not to start that conversation again that would only make him remember how angry he was at her.

Usopp was, however, hung up on another thing Trafalgar had said. He gulped, "Nothing's gonna happen to us, right?"

"Who knows," was the Shichibukai's stony answer as if he didn't give a damn either way. Or perhaps he was just enjoying Usopp's anxiousness that slowly burned at the sniper; a small revenge for all the trouble Strawhats caused him so far.

*He's definitely doing it on purpose,* Miyako thought with a sweatdrop .

All the members of this colorful group huddled up in a circle, as Trafalgar put down a badly drawn map in the middle. "This is a map of Dressrosa and Green Bit my comrade drew." The map looked hastily jotted down on a crumpled piece of paper, which had certainly seen better days.

"Whoa, that's bad!" Nami, as the navigator and a skilled cartographer, couldn't stop herself from commenting at the lousy quality of the map. Surprisingly though, the map was completely accurate.

"Our navigators are actually pretty meticulous, but this was drawn by the first mate since he was helping out with the plan. Considering he's a bear with claws, it didn't turn out that bad," Miyako explained with a shrug.

In the next few minutes, Trafalgar explained the plan and the group decided to separate in teams. One team would stay on the Sunny to guard the ship, while another team goes to the exchange with Doflamingo. Meanwhile, the last team will sneak into the town of the island and look for the factory. It seemed simple enough even for this group of crazy pirates led by the craziest of them all; Monkey D. Luffy.

Or at least that is what Trafalgar Law thought until the man came to a sudden realization. "…Where's Strawhat-ya!?"

"Eh?" The group looked around, only to realize Roronoa, Sanji, Kin'emon, Franky and Luffy were already nowhere in sight. "Eeeeh?!"

The Shichibukai couldn't help but close his eyes and rub them with his fingers in annoyance as he tried to stop himself from lashing out, though considering the situation it was proving to be difficult. "Miss Miyako…would you-"

"I'm on it," the girl instantly answered with a deep sighed. Law didn't even have to finish his sentence for her to know what he wanted; she was on babysitting duty. She was to follow Strawhat and the rest and keep an eye on them so they don't get into trouble while searching for the factory in town.

The girl turned around, ready to go after the missing group. "Good luck, everyone!" She called out to them, waving at the remaining pirates. She only stayed still for a second longer when her gaze locked with Trafalgar's, as if she wanted to say something to him, but decided not to after all. Turning back towards town, the girl jogged through the field of sunflowers to catch up with the other group.

As soon as the doctor thought about his order to Miyako, seeing her disappearing figure in the distance, he wondered if he made the right choice. After all, he just sent the number one troublemaker of the Heart pirates to keep an eye on even crazier troublemakers. That girl almost had a talent for getting herself into sticky situations. Then again, she also had a knack for getting out of them. *Will she really be alright?* On the other hand, she was the only one he could rely on at the moment. He knew he would simply have to trust her and her abilities to keep the Strawhats under control.

~…..~

As Miyako trotted through the fields of colorful flowers and grassy meadows, it was hard to see this place as a treat or enemy territory. It was actually relaxing and pretty peaceful, as she saw swirls of bright colors all around her, blending with the golden and blue hue of the sky. Even as she finally entered through the town gates, all she could see were picturesque houses rising before her. There was no sign of some ominous dark presence that loomed over this place, as Miyako would expect. Instead, she was greeted with lively music from the streets and smiles on people's faces as they walked by her.

That was until a certain sight made her stop in her tracks and gape at the scene. A large pink elephant was strolling leisurely down the street, carrying two laughing children on its back. If that wasn't strange in itself, Miyako realized the elephant wasn't quite right; it had a texture of a stuffed animal. It was soft and puffy, making the woman certain that if she were to cut it, cotton would come falling out. What's more, all the residents appeared to be completely at ease with a strange elephant walking beside them, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

That's when the girl noticed, the pink elephant wasn't the only strange thing. Only a few meters away from her she heard passionate, lively music playing, making her turn towards its source. She saw a tall, beautiful blonde woman dance to it, while a man was playing a guitar - nothing strange…Except for the wooden puppet that was happily dancing with the woman on its own two feet. Miyako tried to see if there was someone controlling the puppet, but there were no strings or anything else attached to it.

*Is there some kind of toy parade today?* Soon the samurai realized the streets were filled with not only people and animals, but toys. Toys that appeared to be alive and moving on their own. They even talked, as the girl noticed they interacted with the residents. On one hand it was an extraordinary sight that interested her, and on the other hand it unnerved her a little. The girl soon realized something about living toys creeped her out.

Getting out of her daze by shaking her head lightly, Miyako remembered her duty. She was to find the rest of the group, though there was no sign of them anywhere. The streets were filled with people, but as much as she searched, Miyako couldn't see the pirates anywhere. *At least they managed to blend in, it seems,* the girl thought ironically. What's more, her attention was attracted left and right by all the colorful people, toys, music and the beguiling aroma of freshly cooked, delicious meals, which came from food stands and restaurants. The girl could feel her mouth salivating just from the scent, but was determined to keep her eyes on the goal and keep searching for the missing pirates. *I can't let myself be distracted now!*

However, that's when a thought hit her. Miyako stopped in her tracks and smacked her fist against her other palm, a sudden grin decorating her features. *That's it! Food! Knowing Luffy-dono, the first place he'll go to is somewhere where they serve good food! I should check the restaurants!* With her new idea in mind, the girl quickened her step down the street.

~…..~

As Miyako walked on, one thing just kept nagging at her. She got used to the toys and even to the screams of stabbed young men. At first she was shocked, even more so as the citizens weren't as horrified as she thought they would be. However, soon an old woman in the gathering crowd explained to her that the women in Dressrosa were incredible passionate and didn't take well to infidelity. It was surprising, but then in Wanokuni even if women were cheated on by their husbands, they couldn't say much or complain as long as the husband was the one to provide for them. They were truly treated as furniture in her homeland, so these women, as crazy and jealous as they were, were a fresh change for Miyako. However, what still puzzled the girl was how come everyone could stay so calm and cheerful when their king just abdicated his throne along with his title of the Shichibukai. It was the only thing protecting him from the World Government and without it, Doflamingo would become just another pirate to them, yet his citizens didn't seem to care one bit.

*Hmm...well maybe I should ask someone about it. And while I'm at it, I could ask around about the factory…or would that be too risky? I don't want someone suspecting something.*

As the girl pondered her next move, a loud crash was heard not far from where she was standing. What really brought Miyako's attention back to reality was the strong surge of power she felt at the same time. She could clearly feel it with her Kenbunshoku Haki, making her whole body shiver. *Don't tell me…* The first people that came to her mind, who were strong enough to make such a blast, were the Strawhats. Forgetting everything else, the girl started running in the direction of the power she just felt.

~…..~

"Stop you damned fairy! Give me back my katana!" Zoro shouted after the invisible trickster who took off quickly with the stolen belongings, including Shuusui. He couldn't even see the alleged fairy, but could sense its presence with his haki as it ran with unnatural speed.

"You stop, bastard marimo! If you go on your own, you'll get lost!" The blonde cook of the Strawhats yelled after him, running behind Roronoa to try and stop him.

"I will be the one to get Shuusui! Stop with Wano's natural treasure!" Kin'emon yelled after the two pirates, determined to catch the tiny thief just as much as Zoro.

The tree men chased each other, all following after the mysterious little thief that hurried through the streets. The swordsman was so involved into chasing after his katana, he didn't even notice when the two pirates after him disappeared. Sanji was suddenly pulled away to the side by a beautiful woman, much to his delight, making him forget all about his initial goal to stop Zoro from getting lost.

On the other hand, Kin'emon wasn't having such luck, as his way was obstructed by a group of masked man; the small-fry henchmen of the Donquixote family. The men recognized the samurai, which wasn't hard with his unusual height and an obvious top-knot that he so unsuccessfully tried to hide.

What's more, the green-haired swordsman didn't even notice that the cyborg Franky and his captain Luffy didn't even join the chase as they stayed behind and disappeared out of sight of the rest of the pirates.

Suddenly, the whole group split up, losing sight of each other.

~…..~

Miyako ran through the streets, feeling shallow breathes leave her while she hurried on. *Did those guys really start some trouble? I wouldn't be surprised.* She cursed herself for not being efficient enough to find them in time. *If Doflamingo or his men realize we are here and blow our cover…what would happen to our plan?* Just the thought of the grinning Shichibukai left her with a bad aftertaste in her mouth.

As she ran, a certain scene flashed in the corner of her eyes. Just as she passed it, the girl's brain formed a clearer picture of what she just saw. *Was that…Kin'emon!?* It looked like the tall samurai was standing in the side alley, surrounded by a group of unknown people. She willed her legs to stop suddenly and turned on her heel, quickly heading back to the direction she just came from.

~…..~

"What!' You know where Kanjuuro is?!" Kin'emon exclaimed in surprise when one of the men from Donquixote Family threatened him.

"That's right, Kin'emon 'Fox Fire'! So make just one move and we'll tell our friends to execute your comrade Kanjuuro!" A tall, scrawny man in a striped shirt and a black mask covering his eyes, pressured the samurai. As soon as Fox Fire mentioned the name of his friend, the man had enough sense to see he could use that information as a bargaining tool. It was obvious this Kanjuuro was imprisoned before by the Donquixote family and even though this small-fry knew nothing of it, he could connect the dots and use the imprisoned man to their advantage.

"That's right! So stay still, samurai!" Another man, short and plump in frame, threatened as he also played along.

Kin'emon had no choice but to stay still, unsure how to react to this new development. He gritted his teeth, grinding them in frustration as a sense of helplessness washed over him. *Dammit, what should I do!? I cannot risk Kanjuuro's life, but if I surrender now what shall become of me!?*

Just as he was about to lower his sword, a ghastly scream of pain came from behind the group. One of Doflamingo's men screeched and fell onto his belly, showing a large red gash on his back. The group turned around, startled and confused, and saw a woman with long dark blue hair tied with a red ribbon and a katana in her hand standing before them. There was a cold glare in her eyes as she stared at her opponents silently, yet deadly.

"W-who are you?" The tall henchman from before shouted, though by his tone it was obvious he could feel fear creeping up inside of him. There was something in this girl's gaze that brought a chill to his bones. He thought the loud shout would give him strength and courage, but he's confidence soon wavered as the girl approached without even uttering a word.

"Ah, Suzune!" As if answering instead of her, Kin'emon exclaimed in surprise as he recognized the newcomer immediately. She had her Yawarakai-Te unsheathed and ready for battle, already bloodied by her first victim.

Without a word, the girl lunged forward at the enemies, sparing no one in her path. She saw the man on her left trying to pull out a pistol, but the girl was faster; turning to the side and swinging her katana at the same time, slashing the man's wrist clean off. Before he had time to react, the next slice came and cut through his throat. She pushed the dying man with her foot towards the incoming group of opponents, confusing them further, as two didn't manage to dodge and toppled on the ground with the blood-covered body on top of them. A metallic gleam of a sword flashed from her side, but Miyako simply dodged it by lunging forward and going for the larger enemy that pulled out an axe. The man, however, didn't expect the girl coming at him from below so when he rushed to bring the exe down on her, it was already too late. He was too slow in his movement and before he could swing down completely, Miyako trusted the tip of her katana upwards. The sharp blade pierced through the man's neck, slicing it easily and exiting on the other side. The girl quickly pulled the katana out and turned to block the sword that came at her again. Her opponent gritted his teeth in anger and adrenaline, trying to push down at her with his strength. However, that only made Miyako's fight easier as she stepped to the side and let him stumble forward, making him lose his balance. Using the butt of the katana's hilt, the girl mercilessly rammed it into the man's solar plexus. The blow was hard enough to crack bones and push all the air out of the man. His eyes rolled to the back of his head until only whites were seen as he dropped onto the ground, before the girl's feet.

She stopped for a quick second to examine the situation and scan the area for any more enemies. Only two remaining opponents were standing in front of her, both holding sabers, but they clearly trembled from anxiety. The two men glanced at each other and as if that action gave them courage somehow, both lunged at her at the same time with their weapons high in the air. The two masked men yelled out a battle cry as they pounced at her. However, just as they were about to hit their mark, the samurai completely disappeared from their view as if she turned into thin air. Confused, but unable to stop, the two men hit nothing but pavement with their swords, while the girl suddenly appeared behind them both. Before they even landed on the ground fully, a deep gash spurted out blood on each of their stomachs, spilling their insides everywhere. The two men fell onto the ground with their faces down, twitching now and then before their every movement stopped with their death.

The girl sighed, feeling she only lost time here while dealing with these weaklings. They weren't even a challenge, not even requiring for her to use any of her advanced techniques. She used a coat of one to carefully clean her sword from the crimson blood covering the blade, before she sheathed the katana back into its scabbard.

"Suzune-dono, what are you doing here?" Kin'emon rushed over to her as soon as the battle was over. All in all, it barely lasted a minute.

"Thanks for your help," the girl said sarcastically before deciding to answer his question. "I was sent by Law to find you guys. You are supposed to be the team to find and destroy the SMILE factory, yet you just disappeared and went on your own. And just as I expected, you managed to get yourselves into trouble," she eyed him accusingly, resting her hands on her hips and puffing out her chest as she scolded him.

"But they used Kanjuuro's life to threaten me. I could not risk my comrade's life again," the samurai explained his vexing position as his expression darkened at the thought of Kanjuuro suffering because of him. It was enough the man sacrificed himself and stayed behind so that Kin'emon could escape and find Momonosuke.

Miyako sighed, but nodded in understanding. "Well it worked out somehow. For now, we must find the others. Where are Luffy-dono and the Strawhats?"

The samurai scratched the back of his head in uneasiness. "Actually…we got separated after Shuusui got stolen." Then he suddenly exclaimed, smacking his fist into his open palm. "Ah, that's right, we must retrieve Shuusui! Wanokuni's national treasure was stolen!"

"Who cares about that right now!? We have a plan to follow through!" Miyako argued back in annoyance. She didn't care about the meito at the moment; whatever happened to it would have to wait. Their priority was destroying the factory yet they didn't even know where it was and now they all managed to get separated too. The plan was completely falling apart, but she was damned if she disappointed Law now when he was relying on her for this. "Come on, we have to find the others."

"But I found out where Kanjuuro is being held! Apparently there is a place called a toy house , but I do not know where it is," the other samurai argued, feeling that was his priority.

Miyako sighed deeply, feeling tired by all the running around, as she bowed her head down to think for a moment. "I get it…But let's regroup first. After that, we can all exchange information and see what we found out," she suggested, retaining her cool and hoping Kin'emon would do the same.

Thankfully, the samurai did. After a second of mulling over the idea, he nodded. "Alright. However, we need to disguise you, Suzune. It seems they know what we look like from the footage from Punk Hazard."

The girl bit her lip. "I was afraid of that…" Then she thrust a hand in her pocket and rummaged through it. Kin'emon furrowed his eyebrows in question, expecting to see what the girl will pull out that would help them. However, what he certainly didn't expect for her to pull out was a pair of thin, black fake mustache that Usopp had given her. Jokingly, the girl put on the fake mustache with a serious expression. It could hardly fool anyone, especially since her body curves and the rest of the face screamed woman. "There," she said in a pleased voice.

"Don't mess around at a time like this!" Kin'emon slapped the fake mustache away angrily, making the girl yelp in surprise and disappointment as the piece of hair fell to the ground.

Managing to calm himself down, the man started to explain. "I can simply make a disguise for you using my magic," the man offered, thinking of using his devil fruit powers.

The girl shrugged with a slight sulky expression on her face. "Fine….Though I liked that mustache," she muttered while complaining. "Ah!" Just as the man was about to do his magic, as he called it, the girl stopped him with her index finger high in the air.

He stared back at her questioningly, about to complain for being interrupted yet again.

"I just want to make it clear," Miyako started with a usual smile on her face. "If you try to use that outfit from the picture, one with only the skirt of leaves, I will slice you in so many pieces, they will need to identify you by your teeth," the girl warned. Even though she was still smiling, there was a chilling sincerity in her words.

Just the dark tone was enough to make the man gulp, as a cold drop of sweat trickled down his brow. "U-understood," the man answered, deleting any perverse thoughts from his mind before he gets killed.

A cloud of white smoke surrounded Miyako for a second before a sound of air being released was heard. As the smoke cleared, the girl that stood before the samurai had a black suit along with a white dress shirt under the jacket, just like the man in Kin'emon's picture. However, the clothes fit perfectly on her as he, luckily, made them in her size. Masking her golden eyes were a pair of round sunglasses with black lenses that concealed the most distinctive feature of Miyako's face. Her hair which was usually tied up in a high ponytail was instead woven in a long braid that fell down on her back and ended in her usual red ribbon tying the hairstyle together. The katana on her waist stayed intact, securely fastened with Miyako's belt of her new black trousers.

The girl spun around, her braided hair swishing in the air after her. "Not bad," she smirked in satisfaction, examining her new outfit. "It's pretty easy to move in this."

"Good. Then let us be off to find the others and search for this 'Toy house,'" Kin'emon suggested.

The girl nodded. "I agree. There's something fishy about this whole country. Even without the insanely jealous women and toys, I heard some strange things about this place. Did you know they have laws that don't allow anyone to go outside after midnight? And toys and humans aren't allowed to live together. I wonder why that is…." Miyako trailed off in thought and rubbed her chin while thinking, as both of them started walking down the streets of the port town Acacia.

"Indeed, there seems to be something dark cowering behind this country. Its true nature. After all, with such a king as Doflamingo, this can't be a normal place," Kin'emon agreed grimly, his eyes hardening at the mention of the blonde Shichibukai.

"Anyway, how do we find the others?" The girl asked with a thoughtful stare, searching all around her and inspecting the people that they passed by in hopes she would recognize a familiar face.

"Perhaps we should follow the noise. It seems to be coming from that large coliseum," the samurai suggested, pointing at the largest, circular building in the town. The coliseum appeared old, but preserved, meaning it was still often used for entertainment purposes. But what kind of entertainment?

Miyako nodded in agreement and they both hurried towards the sounds of cheering and shouting of the Dressrosa residents.

As they approached the old, but glorious amphitheater, with the sounds of shouts and battle coming from it louder than ever, for once since they docked on this suspicious island, Miyako felt their luck changed for the better if only a little bit. The reason was the golden blond hair sticking from a hat that she noticed from afar, which belonged to the tall man in a black suit similar to hers. Even with the snow-colored fake beard and mustache, the girl could recognize the male immediately, which made her think exactly how pointless their disguises really were. It was Sanji, no doubt about it.

"Sani-dono!" Kin'emon, also recognizing the man, shouted and waved towards the cook, bringing unnecessary attention towards them.

"Don't shout, you idiot!" The cook smacked the tall samurai across the face as soon as they got close enough.

It was a good decision to do, because Miyako could see a fair amount of dubious people mingling with the crowd. It didn't take her long to realize that the marines were everywhere, surrounding the coliseum. Her thoughts were interrupted by Sanji's voice as he all but sang at her.

"Miya-cwaan~ I'm glad you're here~"

"What about me?" Kin'emon asked with an offended tone.

"Who cares about you!?" The cook answered in irritation.

"Sanji-san, where are the others?" Completely ignoring the pirate's usual lovey-dovey behavior, the girl jumped straight to the point of what was important right now.

As if only now remembering everything, the cook started his explanation with a hastier expression. "Luffy is fighting in the arena as we speak. The prize is his late brother's Mera Mera fruit, so he didn't want to hand it over to anyone else." Sanji pointed at the large den den mushi screen in front of them, which was showing Luffy, in disguise, fighting with an old man at least four times his size. Even on screen, the power could be seen seeping out from Luffy's opponent, but neither of them had any intention of backing down. The commentator kept calling the young captain Lucy, and the boy didn't use his gomu gomu powers, but even so it was easy to tell his identity for anyone who knew the boy.

The battle around Luffy and his opponent raged on, with everyone attacking anyone else. Blood was spilled everywhere, defeated bodies were flying to the ground, the dead and unconscious scattered around the arena. It was mayhem, with bloodlust and violence so strong, it could be sensed even through the den den mushi screen.

The people in front of the screen cheered while completely taken in by the showy battle, yelling either Lucy's name or the other man's, calling him Chinjao.

"How brutal. Luffy-dono…" Kin'emon stated in a troubled tone.

"This isn't a sight for a lady. Miya-chan, you shouldn't watch th-" Sanji turned to the samurai girl, thinking a girl would surely be disgusted or shocked by the bloodbath they were watching.

"Go for the kidneys!" Miyako shouted as she thrust a fist in the air as if trying to hit her imaginary opponent, just like Luffy was punching his enemy at the moment.

Both men stared at her in shock as they saw the girl completely absorbed by the fight before her. *She's enjoying it!?* Both Sanji and the samurai thought at the same time, still speechless at the sight.

However, Kin'emon brought their attention back to the main topic. "Never mind that, but right now, I need to go find the Toy house and save Kanjuuro!"

"I want to help, but before that we need to regroup," the cook suggested. "And look, this place is dangerous, the marines are all around," he added, suspiciously staring around at the men wearing blue and white uniforms while holding rifles. "It seems that pirates and criminals can normally attend this tournament. The marines probably want to arrest them when they come out."

"Well, it's normal that criminals would be arrested," Kin'emon nodded in agreement, trailing his fingers through his long white beard.

"Don't forget you came here on a pirate ship too!" Sanji raised his voice in anger, smacking the samurai on his shoulder. Calming his irritation, the pirate clicked his tongue as he thought about a solution to their problems. "I hope I could tell Luffy about this, but the fighters' entrances are all closed," he muttered.

"Sanji-san, did you hear from Law and the others? What about them?" Miyako suddenly called out as she turned from Luffy's fight, momentarily.

"That's right! It's bad, Miyako-chan, it was all a trap!" Sanji grabbed her shoulders in slight panic as he remembered the most worrisome part he had heard from Violet. Violet's explanation actually made sense as to why nobody was worried about their king abdicating the throne in this country; it was all false information from the start. Doflamingo never had any intention of following through Trafalgar's demands and leaving the Shichibukai. Nobody knew how he did it, but he managed to fool the whole world, including the Strawhats, just so he could lure Law into a trap.

"Doflamingo used his influence to get that news about him quitting the Shichibukai in the newspapers, but it wasn't actually true! He's still the ruler of this country. I'm sure it was all a part of his plan to fool us from the start! He never really intended to go with Trafalguy's plan," the cook explained in a hurry.

As soon as Miyako heard his words, she could feel her blood freezing over. A shiver shot through her spine as she felt goosebumps even at the back of her neck. 'Having a bad feeling about this' didn't even describe the feelings she had for the current situation. It was as if the beginning of her nightmare had started to unravel slowly and there was nothing she could do about it. Law was already at Green Bit with the others and it was well passed 3pm, which meant he must've already met with Doflamingo. They all naïvely believed they had the upper hand in this, yet Doflamingo played them all. How could he even have so much power to fool the whole world so easily? Even his title as a Shichibukai didn't grant him the influence to manipulate the media.

The girl bit her lip, almost drawing blood, as her mind raced of all the possibilities that could cause this, along with the question of what to do next. Right now she had to find a way to get to Law and help him, but that was impossible to do in her current position. Should she even try to get to Law or continue their plan and aim for the factory instead? She didn't know what was happening with her captain at the moment, but she had no idea where the SMILE factory was either. It seemed that no matter which option she took, she was still completely in the dark.

Meanwhile, the sounds on the screen became louder along with the shouts of the spectators as Luffy's fight with Don Chinjao intensified. It was coming to an end, with both pirates delivering their finishing blows towards one another. The large old man used haki on the top of his head to harden it, spinning and jumping upwards with amazing speed for such a large geezer, right towards Strawhat who was still in the air from his last attack. The boy didn't appear to be disheartened by the other man's power. Instead, he seemed all the more determined to win the match against the old man. The pirate captain blew up his arm until it was as big as a giants', coating it in the black material that was Busoshoku Haki. With both of the participants shouting out their attacks, these two large forces collided into one powerful blast of energy. The cracking noise that sounded like thunder could be heard all the way out here, coming from the inside of the coliseum. Even the onlookers outside of the arena could feel a gust of wind rush passed them, that came from the battle inside. After a few seconds of push and pull of strengths from both sides, one side relented and was smashed back down into the arena. After the initial shock, the commentator shouted out Lucy's name, declaring him the winner. Miyako could see Luffy's grinning face of satisfaction on the large screen.

"That's the spirit, Luffy-dono!" Kin'emon shouted in excitement as he cheered for the winning boy.

"We don't have time for that!" Sanji smacked him at the back of his head to return Kin'emon to realty. Even though he said nothing when Miyako did a similar thing just a while ago.

"Hmpf, even though you said nothing when Suzune did it…," the samurai complained like a sulky child, hiding his pout behind his disguise. However, he didn't have time to continue the discussion when he saw a familiar man running down the street, not far from them. "Oh! Zoro-dono! Zoro-dono! We are here!" He yelled loudly, making a few people beside them turn in question.

"Not so loud, idiot!" Sanji warned once again in annoyance.

Miyako, Kin'emon and Sanji all ran towards the newcomer. The samurai girl and Kin'emon were happy to see a familiar face, though the blonde cook didn't look as pleased.

"Oh, it's really him," is all the blonde said in a murmur that almost sounded disappointed.

That's when the girl noticed Zoro wasn't the only one there, but a strange small creature was resting on his shoulder. What's more, the creature spoke. "Are those your friends?"

"Ah…it's Curly-eyebrowland, Topknotland and Ribbonland," Zoro commented casually.

Miyako sweat dropped at the sudden nickname, completely confused. *I'm missing something here.* Instead, however, she focused on a different matter. "And this is…?" She trailed off in question, staring at the small dwarf that was riding an actual bee.

"This is Vicky-" Zoro started, but was interrupted by the small fairy.

"It's Wikka!"

~….~

"So the Donquixote family really did set us up and attacked the ship," Miyako muttered. After they distanced themselves from the people and moved to a side alley, they discussed everything that happened so far. They all pieced together their newfound information, slowly forming a clearer picture of the situation piece by piece, just like a jigsaw puzzle.

"I need to go save Nami-san!" Sanji exclaimed, ready to rush away after his pirate princess. Yet he stopped as soon as he heard another feminine voice coming from the shadows and calling for him. It was Violet.

"Now who's that!?" Miyako instinctively put a hand on her sword as she glared at the woman suspiciously.

"No, no, it' alright. She's the woman I told you about, who told me all about Doflamingo's secret plans. Violet-chwan~" Sanji smiled broadly, his face lighting up just from saying the woman's beautiful name.

"The one who was working for Doflamingo, huh…?" It was clear from Miyako's tone and her slight frown that she didn't quite trust this woman yet. Not long ago she was still Doflamingo's subordinate, yet now she was supposedly on their side.

However, the woman clad in a hooded cloak heard her and stepped towards the girl. "Not by choice, I assure you. Things are more complicated in this country than you might think. I did so I could survive and one day get my revenge on that terrible man when the time is right. And I believe today could be that day…it's already started."

"What had, Violet-chan?" Sanji danced around her while smiling sappily.

On the other hand, the women expertly ignored his ministrations as she retained her serious expression. "The revolution! I will help you as much as I can," she answered in sheer determination.

Miyako had the same serious features on her face as she listened to the woman and nodded in agreement.

"In any case, we need to think of what to do next," the swordsman added, returning their focus back onto the main topic.

"I need to find the Toy House," Kin'emon said.

"I want to make sure Law is alright. If this is truly all a trap, he might be in danger," Miyako suggested.

"I'll go back to the ship to fight off this Jora person. I'll go instead of this marimo-head, Nami-san would rather have me help her than you anyway," the cook glared at Zoro, determined that he be the one to save the navigator, completely forgetting Brook and Chopper who were also on the ship.

"Fine, go," Zoro shrugged, not caring either way. As long as someone goes and helps protect the crew and the ship, Zoro didn't really mind whether it's him or the Curly-eyebrow cook.

In the meantime, Violet drew a small map to the Toy House and its insides, giving it to Kin'emon to save his friend. Sanji also gave him a den den mushi to stay in contact just in case, while he took the other with him.

As the blonde rode off with that black-haired woman on a toy horse, shouting about Nami-san's safety, Zoro, Kin'emon and Miyako were left standing in front of the Corida Coliseum.

"Well then, you can stay here and wait for Luffy-san, to explain everything to him. Meanwhile, I'll go to my captain-," she quickly turned around and was about to run off, when a tug on the back of her collar pulled her back, almost choking her in the process.

"Hold it," Zoro called out, tugging at her jacket.

The girl was pulled back and almost lost her balance, feeling the jacket cut into her throat uncomfortably, before she turned around towards her assailant and gave him a good knock on the head. "What the hell was that for!? You almost chocked me!"

It was a reflexive action on her part as she was reminded of those guys in her own crew, the Heart pirates, and reacted accordingly, forgetting for a moment that she was actually talking to Roronoa…and hitting him. On the other hand, Zoro was reminded of their own navigator, Nami, seeing this girl had much more similarities to that scary woman than he originally believed.

"Calm down and think!" He responded angrily, still nursing his sore head and in disbelief that she actually hit him. "You might be worried for your captain, but how do you plan getting to Green Bit on your own? That would take too long anyway. You don't know what's going on over there or if Torao is even still there. Rushing over there blindly would be meaningless," the green-haired swordsman explained, awfully cool-tempered all of a sudden.

At the moment, Miyako appeared calm enough, but that was only her demeanor on the outside. Inside her mind, she was fuming with worry over her captain and frustrated that she didn't know what was going on or how to fix it and help him. Aggravatingly enough, Zoro could see right thought her and read her mood, even below the cold surface she was presenting. Sometimes he really did remind her of some wild animal, whose instincts were so sharp it could easily read the air around people.

The girl took a deep breath, feeling defeated, as she closed her eyes for a second. "I understand that…" She knew that he was right, even if she didn't necessarily want to admit it. The most she could do for Law right now, was to execute their part of the plan perfectly.

"Franky and the little ones will take care of the factory as Wikkan said, so let us focus on our task here, first. We need to get to Luffy," Zoro added, finishing his speech now that he could see the girl regained her senses.

"It's Wikka," Miyako corrected him with a sigh, but he did actually reassure her with his words. Or rather, gave her a concrete goal she could focus on to get her mind off of more unpleasant things.

"Then, how shall we notify Luffy-dono? I was almost caught once already, so we should refrain from any strange behavior," Kin'emon interrupted and the three of them stared at the closed off gates of the great amphitheater. There was no open door or window where they could enter.

"So we'll just cut up that wall," Zoro answered nonchalantly.

"That is most definitely strange behavior!" Kin'emon shouted back.

"We'll cut it gently then," the pirate concluded.

"It's not a matter of vigor!"

Miyako sighed in annoyance, "Why is everything about cutting to you? How can you solve all your problems like that?"

"It worked well so far," the green-hired swordsman shrugged.

"ZOROOOO-SEMPAAAAIII!" A loud, wailing and unrecognizable voice came from high above them, somewhere inside the coliseum.

The trio blinked in puzzlement and stared up to see a man clutching at the bars, staring down at them from one of the many windows. The first thing Miyako noticed was his flashy appearance, along with neon-green hairstyle that resembled a rooster.

"Who? How do you know me?" Zoro tilted his head while furrowing his eyebrows, though the confused expression mostly stayed hidden behind his pair of sunglass.

"And why are you crying?" Kin'emon added to the newcomer. Indeed, now that they peered closer, the man was practically bawling; snot and tears falling everywhere on his face.

"B-bween yer fwan sinz fwobfever!" The man shouted back, still crying uncontrollably.

"Huh? What is this guy saying?" Zoro couldn't understand a single thing the man was yelling.

"He said he's been your fan since forever," Miyako translated. The rooster-head nodded, confirming her words, but unable to utter anything more as he was still sobbing.

"Eh?! You can understand him!?" Kin'emon and Zoro both stared at Miyako while startled by the realization, but the girl simply shrugged at them. Perhaps it was because of Munk's thick accent that the girl got used to deciphering strange speaking habits.

"Wbill ybou gwive me yer autogwraph?!" The rooster-head shouted again.

Zoro glanced at Miyako, silently asking for a translation.

"He wants your autograph," the girl answered, equally confused as the swordsman now.

"What?"

Finally the crying man managed to calm down a little, steadying his voice and trying again in a clearer tone, "I'll find Luffy-senpai for you, so will you give me your autograph?!"

"How does he even know about that?" Miyako blinked in confusion.

"He must've heard our conversation earlier," Kin'emon guessed.

Zoro had no idea what was the man talking about, mentioning autographs, but as soon as he mentioned Luffy, the swordsman saw some hope in this idea. "You'll find him, right!? Please, hurry!"

The request from his beloved Zoro-senpai, almost made the flashy man cry again. He started to stutter as he talked, "O-o-okay! Wait here. I'll search for him, with my life!" As suddenly as he appeared, the strange man disappeared from the window.

"No need to go that far," Kin'emon muttered at the strange man, a drop of sweat dripping from his forehead as he watched him leave.

"Well that was…unexpectedly convenient," Miyako commented as the trio stared at each other in wonder, still unsure what just happened. It was as if a miracle had fallen into their laps just as they needed some luck to come their way.

~…~

Law panted in utter exhaustion as he knelt on one knee, desperately trying to get up and catch his breath at the same time. He could feel sweat and blood tricking down his brow, stinging his eyes along with dirt that hindered his vision. He tried to summon the last of his strength just to stand and dodge the next attack that came sooner than he'd hoped.

A blast of white strings, as sharp as a scalpel, came at him and the young pirate had to jump backwards onto the rubble of the already destroyed bridge. As if the large menace of the older Shichibukai wasn't enough, every now and then he had to redirect his strength towards the fighting fish that would sometimes jump out and fly right towards him with their bull-like horns. Just as he cursed at that thought, another fighting fish appeared from the water and rammed itself into what's left of the bridge's support system, while trying to get to the two men. It dented the bridge's wired fence before lunging back into the water. The whole bridge shook unsteadily from the onslaught.

In comparison, Doflamingo barely had his feathers ruffled from the battle, so to speak. He still carried himself proud and tall, with that impossibly wide grin. He was barely out of breath from the fight, while Trafalgar could barely even keep his Room from disappearing. Then again, only a while ago Law had to fight both Doflamingo and a marine admiral, and already got beaten by them once.

"Room!" Law called out, but the damned thing only appeared from the second try and was significantly smaller than usual. *Dammit, this way I will have to get closer to him to attack,* the man thought bitterly, never losing sight of Doflamingo who was now casually strolling towards him. Since his sphere had a small radius now, he had to come much closer to his target to envelope them both into it and use his devil fruit powers on the man. Knowing how dangerous Doflamingo could be, Law didn't like that one bit.

Another vain popped out of the blonde's forehead even as his grin stayed the same, when he saw Law summoning his powers again. The boy just wouldn't give up. "Why are you still fighting, Law?" The smugness was clear in the Shichibukai's voice as he spoke to the young male with such certainty, as if he knew from the beginning that he couldn't lose this fight. "You have more than one hole in your leg from my bullet string. You can hardly move, yet you still persist. Is it really worth it that much…avenging Corazon?"

Trafalgar said nothing in response, only gritted his teeth with nothing but anger and bloodthirst in his eyes as he glared back at the man towering over him.

"I've already seen through your plan. You failed as bait and your new allies won't be able to destroy the factory in time. I've already sent my men after them…you heard from the den den mushi call just now, right?" The man continued, his grin never leaving his face. But Law knew better; he knew Doflamingo wasn't grinning because he was amused or happy. He was actually hiding a cold stare of rage in his eyes, masked with those sunglass he always wore to help him hide his true colors. His true emotions. Even as he grinned, his eyes stayed fierce, deadly and livid. Yes, right now, Doflamingo might be grinning…but he was actually furious with anger. Furious that someone tried to go against him. That Law did so much damage and actually thought he could win against the older Shichibukai.

However, Trafalgar wasn't going to just stay down and give up either. He knew what that would mean to the plan he worked so hard to accomplish. What that would mean to his promise to Cora-san. No, Doflamingo needed to be taken down!

The reason why Law stayed quiet, was exactly to lure the other Shichibukai in his Room as the other came strolling towards him unsuspectingly. As soon as Doflamingo stepped into Law's room and tried to attack the other Shichibukai with his bullet string again, the other man acted. "Shambles!" Instead of Law, a simple rock from the rubble appeared, smashed instantly by Donquixote's attack. Trafalgar, on the other hand, appeared on the pile of rubble right behind his opponent, jumping towards the man and swinging his nodachi towards the blonde's head. "Injection shot!" The man yelled while putting all his force into his attack. Even if the nodachi doesn't pierce Doflamingo's head physically, with the devil fruit powers the piercing attack can transmit the attack further towards the opponent.

However, what Law didn't expect was for Doflamingo to jump backwards to avoid the actual weapon and tie his strings around a large rock, pulling it towards himself like a shield. The rock was smashed into pieces by Law's attack, but by then there was no sign of Doflamingo behind it.

Using his haki, Law's eyes widened when he felt the man's presence above him and jumped to the side just as the Shichibukai smashed his heel into the ground there.

"Guh!" The pirate captain landed right on his wounded leg and groaned from the pain, feeling his muscles tear even further.

"D will create chaos in this world? I'll fall because I underestimated Strawhat? That is what you kept saying…Are you serious Law?" With every new word a new vain of anger popped on Doflamingo's forehead. "But look at you now. You will fall before me Law…all of you will. Didn't I tell you; that is my destiny. I will annihilate the Strawhats, your new allies, oh and yes….that nakama of yours. What did her bounty say; Burning-Eyed Miyako?"

Trafalgar's body suddenly froze. It was as if the whole world stopped, along with every muscle in his body that was so strained it couldn't move. The world made no noise, as Law's pulse beat in his ears; the only thing he could hear. After Doflamingo's last words, he couldn't even hear the man anymore. He could see the blonde opening his mouth, but no sound came out. Only a steady beating of his heart was echoing in his eardrums, quickening more and more, until it was racing. *Why? He knows about Miyako…he knows that she's a Heart pirate and he knows she's in Dressrosa. My nakama…even my nakama are in danger. If I let this man live, if I die now, everyone will be in danger.* Images flashed through his mind; smiling faces of his crewmates. Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, Cody, Joshua, Munk, Jean Bart, Sai…Everyone were relying on him, trusting him…counting on him. He thought they'd be safe if he left them aside at Zou, away from this man, but now he wondered why was he so sure of that. How does he know that Doflamingo won't turn his vengeance towards his crew after his done here? A shiver ran down Law's spine, something that didn't happen in a long time.

Don't worry…If something happens, I will kill Doflamingo for you.

Finally, Miyako's words echoed through his mind. He could see her determined eyes staring back at him. And staring back at that ruthless face of the Shichibukai before him, Law knew Doflamingo will make even his samurai suffer if they all fail. After his dead, he will turn towards the people closest to him, because that's how Doflamingo operated.

He refused to accept that! He refused to give in and acknowledge defeat here when he was so close to bringing this man down! *Even if I have to take you down with me, I will destroy you. All I have to do is hold you here long enough before the factory gets destroyed. The Strawhats, Miyako…they will do it!* With his last strength Law called out for his Room one more time. It flickered, disappeared, and then reappeared bigger than before. He could see Doflamingo's eyebrow twitch in suspicion as he predicted something was coming.

"Tact!" As Law called out, the whole bridge shook under their feet. Soon, pieces of rubble started rising up into the air slowly, floating around the pair. The captain moved both his hands, manipulating the pipes, metal and rock around him. Everything that he could use in his Room. He ignored the burning pain in his whole body, along with the pressure in his chest. The powers were wearing him out, sucking the last of his remaining energy and putting pressure on his muscles. He could feel the fatigue as it suffocated him. Yet he stood his ground, moving the pieces of the bridge faster and faster. They circled around Doflamingo with high speed, obstructing his vision and flying into him every so often.

The older Shichibukai growled in annoyance as he was forced to dodge, jump around or smash the large boulders around him. However, there were too many of them. Just as he smashed one with his fist and jumped to avoid another going for his head, he felt a sharp pain in his right shoulder. He realized one of the rocks flew right into his shoulder. A numbing pain spread though that area, but the blonde ignored it, only becoming more determined to get out of there. He blocked another piece with his leg, only to receive a piece of metal in his side. It didn't pierce anything, but it smashed into him fast enough to make him stumble to the side. He jumped to the left, seeing a metal pipe stab into the ground just where he was standing a while ago. That's when Doflamingo realized he lost Law. The other Shichibukai was nowhere in sight. The man searched wildly, while still blocking, destroying and dodging the projectiles coming at him.

Suddenly, Law appeared at Doflamingo's side, swinging his sword right at the blonde. He used haki to coat Kikoku as he sliced towards Doflamingo's ribs, sure that he took the older man by surprise. The captain wasted no breath nor time as he only focused on his attack. Only a little longer and the blade will slice right through that bastard!

And then it stopped. When the sword was only a few inches from its target, it stopped completely and Law couldn't move it even a millimeter. "Why?" Just as he muttered that in disbelief, he saw a shimmer on the sunlight with the corner of his eyes. He followed the trail in the air, which led him directly to his sword. That's when Trafalgar realized there were countless threads tangled around his sword, which trailed next to him and were tied to the side of the bridge. Doflamingo put threads on his sword and tricked him, only waiting for Law to use it the next time so he could fall completely into his trap. The man was as cunning and vicious as a spider and the pirate captain was tangled in his web before he even realized it.

Doflamingo's startled face changed into a gleeful one when he realized his little trick worked and Law was powerless. Before he managed to jump back and escape, the blonde grabbed Law by the head and smashed him into the ground, making a crater around the body as it hit the floor.

The younger Shichibukai could feel all the air rush out of him in one swift motion as burning pain replaced it. He couldn't even breathe anymore.

"It seems you need another lesson in respecting your elders, kid," Doflamingo joked as he clenched his fist and coated it with Busoshoku haki, while he held Law in place with his other hand.

Trafalgar continued to struggle but it was useless. He could feel Doflamingo holding him down, clenching his jaw enough to break it.

Swiftly, the haki coated fist fell down and right into Law's unprotected stomach. The man gasped in pain, coughing up blood and saliva. However, the attack didn't stop there. aDoflamingo continued to pummel him with his fist over and over again. All Law could do was feel the painful strikes on his already tormented body which was quickly reaching its limit. He was nearing his breaking point. He used so much energy on his devil fruit powers he could barely move and the beating he got from Doflamingo earlier wasn't helping either. He already had serious injuries on his legs and probably internal bleeding from some of Doflamingo's previous attacks. He couldn't fight back anymore, even if he was free from the Shichibukai's grasp. As the tall blonde continued to pummel him with his fist, Law could only fall in and out of consciousness. When the hits finally stopped, his body was too broken to even move.*I…let them down,* where his last thoughts as he felt Doflamingo's strings tie around him and squeeze his body painfully so he couldn't use his limbs freely anymore. He could feel a rush of wind tangling his fair and the cool breeze felt good on his sore skin. Somewhere in the back of his mind he realized he was moving through the air, probably swinging on Doflamingo's threads as he was carried somewhere, but the captain couldn't even open his eyes to examine the situation anymore.

~…..~

"Ah, it's Kin'emon, Zoro and Miyako!" Luffy called out when he came to meet the trio.

"Apparently I'm Ribbonland now," Miyako said sarcastically, referring to Zoro's previous introduction with Wikka.

"What's up, guys?" Luffy smiled from the inside of the Corida Coliseum as he stared at the three people below him.

"If you knew there was gonna be a tournament like this, why didn't you invite me?" Zoro was fuming, for all the wrong reasons, in Miyako's opinion.

"Ah…my bad," the captain boy shrugged, not really looking sorry at all.

"And here I was just running all around town," the swordsman continued to complain.

"That should be my line. Because you guys suddenly disappeared I had to run all over to look for you. And as I thought, you got yourself into another mess," Miyako crossed her arms on her chest in annoyance.

"Maa…I'm sorry for that too," Luffy apologized again, sounding no more sincere than a second ago.

"That is not what we came here to discuss!" Kin'emon warned them, trying to return the conversation back on track before it gets out of control and they completely change the subject of why they even called Luffy there. He quickly dialed the den den mushi, having some trouble with the thing, with which Miyako could sympathize. They didn't have den den mushi in Wanokuni after all. Her first time seeing one was also only after she left her homeland. There was a lot of technology in this world that needed getting used to.

"By the way Luffy, the Coliseum is surrounded by the marines," Zoro quickly added as if he just remembered that information. He announced it so leisurely as if it was only a side-note, not even worth remembering.

"Don't bring it up like some afterthought. Isn't that the main reason why we called him out here!?" Miyako wanted to smack the swordsman for his attitude.

"Is it connected!?" Suddenly, a voice came out Kin'emon's transponder snail.

"It's me!" Luffy called out.

Another click was heard and another call came through as now three lines were connected together. Despite his lack of introduction, the other party recognized Strawhat's voice immediately.

"Luffy! It's me, Usopp!" Aside from the sniper, an array of other voices could be heard as well.

"Aside from Law, we are all here. Report your status," Sanji's voice came out as he took over the den den mushi.

"Ow! This is Franky! I'm with Robin and Usopp! We are currently with the Anti-Donquixote faction of this country, the Riku Army."

"An Army!?"

"-of dwarfs, that is," the cyborg added,

"Dwarfs?!" Sanji's voice exclaimed in question.

Miyako suddenly grabbed Luffy's hand as she stood on the tips of her toes to reach the den den mushi in his hand. "That aside, what do you mean 'aside from Law'? Where is he?!"

Sanji was quiet for a while longer before responding, his voice a shade bit darker. "Law had to lure Doflamingo away from the Sunny. The last we saw him, he had one of the Donquixote family members as a hostage and disappeared with Doflamingo chasing after him."

The samurai girl felt her throat go dry in an instant and she gulped painfully. *So he's going to have to fight Doflamingo directly after all? That's what I was worried about…*

While the girl stayed silent and deeply in thought, Luffy took the lead again and talked to Franky. The cyborg started to explain his situation, mentioning the little Tontatta Army he met recently.

"That toy soldier we met in front of the Corida Coliseum. He is their leader," the robot pirate explained.

"That's the toy soldier Rebecca was trying to stop! You need to stop that army!" Luffy yelled out, ignoring puzzled expression from the trio in front of him.

"Don't be ridiculous," came Franky's quick response. "Tra-guy's plan was for us to destroy the factory and we'd leave Doflamingo alive to do with as we please. But what are we supposed to do with all the people trying to overthrow Doflamingo today. It's true Doflamingo might be of more use to us if he stays in power…," the man trailed off before continuing, even louder and more determined. "Look Luffy, I'll do anything you tell me to, but this country that we thought was absolutely amazing has a really dark shadow! Trying to stand up against an overwhelming enemy, these little soldiers…I don't want to stand by and watch them throw their lives away!"

Everything went silent on all three lines. It was because everyone were waiting for the word; for the final decision by their captain.

And soon it came. "Franky….Go as wild as you want!"

"Ow yeah! You're the man, Luffy!" Franky called out wile cheering.

Strawhat turned to glance back at the samurai girl before him. "Sorry, we're changing the plan a little," this time he did look at least a bit more apologetic. After all, Luffy didn't like breaking promises and this deal, alliance or whatever they should call it, with Trafalgar was like a promise to him.

However, Miyako simply smirked and shook her head lightly, her hands still crossed on her chest. "Not at all. Bringing Doflamingo down directly…I don't think that's a bad change of plan at all." After all, it seemed their original plan has pretty much gone to hell already. They stepped into Doflamingo's trap, who fooled them, and obviously they couldn't stubbornly continue on as they planned. They needed to be flexible and adjust, Miyako understood that. As long as destroying the SMILE factory was still a part of their plan, she believed Law would be okay with a few changes as well. Besides, unknowingly, the Strawhats were actually going along with Law's true plan. He wanted to bring down Doflamingo more than anything, while the whole Kaido ordeal was just lip-service for the Strawhats so he could manipulate them into aiding with his original plan.

However, the pirates just couldn't get a moment of piece. Just as they came to an understanding, loud crashing noises traveled from the far side of the town, coming closer to the central square where the Coliseum was. Finally, the destruction reached them and a blow came so close to them it made the people around stumble from the strong gust of power that erupted. They were momentarily blinded by it, needing to close their eyes from the cloud of dust in the air.

"Whoa!" The trio called out, startled at the sudden development.

As the large cloud of dust and smoke finally cleared, everyone could only stare at the scene in utter disbelief. They could see two figures, one lying down and the other standing next to it, whose identities soon revealed themselves as the cloud disappeared.

Miyako's face paled, her eyes widening in shock and her body completely went cold. She wanted to shout, to call out to the person lying on the ground so motionlessly, but her voice wouldn't even come out. All she could do was stare at the sight of Law on the ground, unconscious if even alive, and Doflamingo towering over him while sneering.

Her throat was painfully dry, her body staring to shake from either anger or fear for her captain's life. She didn't know which since she couldn't think at the moment. She could sense some movements from around her and fuzzy noises, but couldn't focus on any of it. Luffy was yelling something, but she couldn't understand a word. Her eyes were completely glued to the bleeding body in front of her.

Before anyone could react, the older Shichibukai took out a pistol and fired three shots at the unmoving body. As if to prove that Law was still alive, the shots made the young captain yell out and writhe in pain before he fell into unconsciousness.

The three sharp noises woke Miyako up from her daze and her body could finally move. Not only could she move again, but she felt all the adrenaline rush into her at once. She could feel her blood boil until she felt she could slice the world with her katana at the moment. "LAW!" She screamed from the top of her lungs, unsheathing her katana and rushing at the laughing blonde, all in one quick movement. The ground cracked where she stood from the strong leap as her kenshi spirit rose to a point she could render someone useless with only her presence.

Once Miyako acted, Zoro and Kin'emon appeared right behind her, ready to take action and save their ally from Doflamingo's hands.

Just as the samurai girl was about to reach the blasted fiend, a large man clad in a long white coat of the marines appeared before her. Their katana clashed with a metallic sound, both powers pushing against each other. Miyako's glasses fell down and shattered on the ground, but she only gritted her teeth and held out. She lifted her head, ready to glare at the bastard who dared come in her way, but her hateful stare soon changed into a startled one when she saw the person blocking her katana with his. Her face paled once more, making her appear ghostly white as she recognized him immediately; all the way to the cross-shaped scar from the wound that blinded him so long ago.

"Issho-san…," Miyako breathed out in a gasp, barely finding any words to speak.

It seemed the man recognized her presence even before she spoke. "Little Miyako…So it is true that you became a pirate. As I feared…Now you are 'Burning-Eyed Miyako,' are you not?" He slowly said, though it was hard to read any emotion from his tone.

Her brief hesitation shifted the balance in their power struggle and the girl was pushed back, slamming into the ground a few meters back before she could say anything more to the man. She saw two shadows pass her as Zoro and Kin'emon reached the enemy, but had no better luck. Zoro was also pushed back by the marine admiral, and Fujitora opened a hole in the ground with his devil fruit powers in order to make space between them. Kin'emon was just about to save Trafalgar when a tall shadow rose above him. Doflamingo kicked the samurai right in his face, sending him flying.

"Strawhats…stay away from this, it is none of your business. Law is my mutt and he needs to be disciplined," Doflamingo finally spoke in an intimidating voice, all the while grinning menacingly. Then he turned his head slowly toward the samurai girl, who started to get up from the floor. It was hard to see what kind of expression he made while staring at her, but his intentions were crystal clear from his icy tone, nevertheless. "And after I'm finished with him, I will take care of his unruly crew."

Miyako simply glared back at the blonde while gritting her teeth, still feeling too furious to be intimidated.

The Shichibukai saw the frightened faces of the people around them and smiled even wider as he reassured them, "Sorry for disturbing the citizens! The Warlord Trafalgar Law is the one responsible for the 'throne abandon hoax' this morning! He tried to pull me from the throne, but nobody has to worry about that anymore as all problems have been solved!" he announced with a wide smile, hiding his eyes as usual. He stared back at the group of pirates, licking the slightly bleeding wound on his cheek. The gesture made Miyako shiver in both anger and disgust.

She rose from the ground, her sight focusing on the marine admiral once more, but she could feel the katana trembling in her hands...no, it was her hands that were trembling. She never suspected that she would see that man here, in Dressrosa, let alone face him as her opponent. Yet here he was, standing between her and her enemy. She was still confused about seeing Fujitora there and couldn't understand why a man like that would ever aid someone like Doflamingo. Even so, she noticed the marine admiral's coat on his shoulders. So he was one of the Marines one…and she was a pirate. As much as she didn't want to fight him, Miyako's first priority now was saving Law. Even if she had to make Issho-san her enemy.

"You!" On Miyako's surprise, Luffy was the one to spoke to Fujitora, also recognizing him. It brought the startled girl back from her thoughts and into the cruel reality before her. "You're an admiral?!"

"An admiral is here on Dressrosa!?" The voices on the still on-going den den mushi call shouted in disbelief.

"You guys have treated me so well, yet I have to point my sword at you, bite the hand that feeds me. What happened to this world…?" Fujitora's voice was solemn, as if he truly regretted it.

"Are the marines helping Doflamingo!? Then, we'll be heavily outnumbered!" Franky's voice yelled through the transponder snail.

Before anyone could get any concrete answers to everything they just witnessed, the marine admiral used his powers to separate a piece of the ground they were standing on, and pulled both him and Doflamingo up, along with their new prisoner.

"No! Wait!" Miyako yelled after them desperately, but they already flew away, out of her reach. She took her katana to deliver a haki blow and try to bring them down when marines swarmed and surrounded them, attacking all at once.

"Arrest the Strawhat pirates!" One of the marines yelled and everyone complied.

Miyako had no choice but to turn and face the sudden, imminent threat before her, leaving Law in the hands of his brutal captor.

---

That's that for my first Dressrosa chapter. I hope it was interesting enough. I'll start writing the next one immediately. :D Thank you everyone for your reviews and support!

Maisaahamdan: Thank you for the lovely review! Interactions with the Strawhats are so fun to write, maybe that's why it looks natural. I can just imagine all their shenanigans. I hope you'll find the Dressrosa Arc as interesting as the Punk Hazard one. :)

taran taran: Here it is! :D

a law fan: hehe Somehow I find it really funny how Law can make Chopper so scared. I think he could totally tease him, pretending to be diabolical and scare poor Chopper out of his wits.

Jeseney: Well at least my updates will be more frequent now since I have time during summer, so you won't have to wait for long for new ones. :D I'm glad the story gives you feels, means it's working! Enjoy the rest and thanks for reviewing!

loveanime1999: I hope you enjoyed this one too. ^^ Dressrosa arc ftw! Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Arrow-chan3: haha It was an accident~ And he got punished by Law frightening him for it. ;P

Trainer Azurite: Don't worry, I mostly have planned out what Miyako will do during the battle. I need to incorporate her in the cannon, after all. :P I agree with you on Miyako's character. In reality she is emotional, but she was thought to always keep a cool head during a fight. Showing her emotions in a fight could also prove to be fatal since her moves would be too obvious and easily read though. That's why she seems cold during a battle, since she hides her emotions from her enemies. Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you will like the Dressrosa Arc too. ^^

Hitoshirezu Ryu: hehe Indeed, she can't get rid of the nickname. Even the Hearts still use it despite her telling them not to. So of course, the Strawhats won't listen to her either. :') I like how Law's character is actually much more childish sometimes than expected, even similar to Luffy's in some cases. Despite that cool front he usually has, he can still bicker and act like a spoiled kid sometimes. I'm glad you think I nail the cannon's personalities, since that is always one of my biggest concerns. I hope you'll enjoy the Dresrossa Arc! Thank you for reading for all this time and reviewing all my chapters!

Lucy Jacob: haha I think I know what you mean. Seeing everything that happens in this arc, especially with Law, it will be a challenge. I feel it might be a big turning point for Law and Miyako (especially Law).

Indeed, though it's better if Oda recovers first, because if he pushes himself too hard he'll just get sicker and then there would be even more breaks anyway. ^^' The pauses are frustrating but bearable. Though I still disliked how much the story of this arc has been unnecessarily dragged out, especially in the anime (don't get me started on the anime…). Thanks, I do need it! XD And thank you for reading and reviewing!

*ps; I would be too embarrassed to ever talk to Oda-sensei about my story. :3

Zyma-nee-22: That's no problem, I totally understand busy things. :P I'm glad you liked it. Truthfully, I also find it hard to balance romance and action (or just write romance in general ^^'). Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Reflected Shade: haha I'm glad I made your morning! :D I'm excited about writing the Dressrosa Arc too…excited and scared! Indeed, Oda-sensei was keeping us on the edge of our seats and giving us too many false alarms with this one! My heart can't take it! Thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you'll also like this one!

Bizzy: hehe, thanks! Indeed I'm back and writing like crazy! :D Hm, not all of them will find out…at least not right away. Well…you'll see about the rest. ;) She'll find out about Law's past during this arc actually.

A fan asked Oda what kind of Onigiri did Sanji make for Law when he said he didn't eat bread. So Oda responded, the first was Tuna-mayo, the second was Okaka, and the third was Umeboshi which Law hates. (umeboshi is really sour, pickled plum. I think it's funny how his taste in food is like a child's. He seems to be a picky eater. :P). There is an illustration of this scene online, you can google it (just write in law, one piece, umeboshi, pirate hunter zoro).

Orion's Left Arm: I'm glad. They're such a fun bunch. :D I don't think Law would really get angry unless he feels threatened by them; like if Miyako would respond back to their flirting or seem interested, which she, of course, wouldn't do. Of course, Miyako is getting used to Law and his teasing more and more. And they're already too close for her to run away at just his touch, like in the beginning. Thank you for reading and reviewing~

Son of Whitebeard: He always had backup; the Strawhats. ;) Though Miyako will help too~

Apple Bloom: Of course. She will be participating in the events of the Dressrosa Arc. :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!

jazzie1019: haha You are very welcome. :D

animagirl: I agree,they have become close enough to simply be at peace with each other. They're not struggling with their emotions anymore, they've accepted them. Don't worry, there will be more time later for Nami and Robin to grill Miya-chan about Law. ;) Thanks for the review!

Slacker: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yep, I felt anymore fillers would be too much and I don't want to drag it out unnecessarily.

Chocogirl24: Thanks, I hope you won't be disappointed! :D

VanillaMilkshake18: If it were Robin, she would be the one smirking after seeing them, instead of Law. :D