I don't like you! by BloodyMarryMe
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or any of its characters. I do own the OC Suzune Miyako. This story is rated T for violence, language, blood and suggestive themes.
Hey guys! Long time no see (read?). So I've been having some personal things to deal with and didn't have much time to update, but I didn't forget about you guys. I've been dying to get back to writing again. Life is going to get hectic this year, but I'll write whenever I find some free time to do so. I'm not giving up on this story! :D I hope you've all been well and had a good time on your summer vacation. If not, the winter holidays are coming soon so you can still make up for it. ;)
So without further ado, let's start!
CHAPTER 67
The samurai twirled around and kicked one of the henchmen into the stomach, sending him flying into one of his companions. Miyako clutched her sword and cut through another assailant before he could even close in on her, then quickened her step to catch up to the others.
„Come on, hurry everyone!" Violet yelled out, already up ahead, as she moved through the crowd of attackers. She didn't feel fear, however, as she had her protectors guarding her from any incoming onslaughts. Miyako, Zoro and Luffy all ran in a group surrounding her, shielding her every side from Doflamingo's men.
"Was it really alright to let Kin'emon-san leave on his own?" The dark-haired woman continued, feeling guilt that they separated from the samurai and left him on his own. He did say that he wanted to search for his friend, though, and the Toy House was down another corridor so they didn't have any choice but to split up. Still, she was concerned for the samurai's safety since there were a lot of Donquixote family henchmen around the palace and not to mention the top Executives of the said family.
Miyako only shook her head at Violet's words. "Don't worry about that man. He can act like a fool, but he is a strong warrior." She suddenly felt a stare bore into her and turned her head to see the swordsman smirking at her with a somewhat pleased expression that she couldn't quite decipher, yet knew it definitely irritated her. "What?" Her tone dropped along with her expression.
"I just never thought you would admit such a thing," Zoro responded, still smirking as if teasing her, which he was most definitely doing.
Miyako wasn't amused by it, though. As soon as she realized what she said about Kin'emon, a man it didn't seem possible for her to get along with, she frowned. "Don't you dare tell him," she glared at him warningly.
The man's smirk only widened into an amused grin, but if he had any more thoughts on the matter, he kept them to himself; much to Miyako's relief.
Violet was still worried, but it seemed the girl's words and the strangely light-hearted atmosphere around them actually made her feel better. She focused back on the path ahead, turning another left corner. Even with the deadly situation unfolding around her, the woman was too excited to be afraid. For the first time in ten years, Violet finally saw hope ahead; a light that could chase away the darkness that enveloped this country. These people, these unusual pirates, were Dressrosa's only chance now and she could clearly see it. So she didn't falter in her step. She kept pushing forward, guiding the group towards their goal as fast as she could. It was the only thing she could do for them now, but she didn't hesitate even for a moment.
Because the woman was so focused on the road ahead, she failed to realize the change around them. Even though she knew of all the possible dangers in Doflamingo's palace, always reminding herself of the peril in the back of her mind, she didn't realize the trap until it was too late.
Miyako's eyes narrowed as it suddenly became too quiet around them. Where did all the guards go? Only a moment ago, they were still being chased by dozens of masked men, yet suddenly they all fell back. *Did they retreat? But why?* Deciding to voice her worries, the samurai called out to the others, "Did we finally outrun the guards?"
"Hmm, right…Are they not chasing us anymore?" Zoro mumbled, also skeptical about the situation. He narrowed his one good eye and frowned as if already expecting new trouble.
Only when the ground started to shake, did Violet realize what was happening and why exactly the guards suddenly disappeared. The stone corridors and walls surrounding them made her remember the real guardian of this castle. The one even all those masked henchmen of the Family were afraid of.
"Pica!" Violet yelled in panic. It was too late to warn the group about the man, or rather the monster, as the rock-solid walls and floor already started to shift and move like waves in the ocean.
Miyako fought to keep her balance along with everyone else, when she noticed the large aura right in front of them. She could clearly feel it with her Kenbunshoku haki and the girl could tell whatever was coming was massive.
A face was first to appear high above them on one of the walls, but a large bulky body as grey as the rest of the cobblestone, soon followed. "What is that!? It's huge!" The samurai couldn't help but shout as she watched a person come out of the wall like it was simply liquid.
It's not just that the person was made out of stone, but its body was huge and muscular. It was as if a statue had come to life. A statue that could easily crush them all with one swing of its gigantic hand. As it finally came all out of the wall, showing its whole large glory, it intercepted their way. It stood looming, right between the group and their path, casting a shadow onto them like a menacing guardian.
"It's one of the highest executives in the Family! He's a devil fruit user; he ate the ishi ishi fruit!" Violet shouted a warning, still cursing their bad luck.
Without a word, the monster pulled both its arms into each stone wall beside him, easily assimilating into what was supposed to be a solid surface.
"What is he doing?" Miyako took a battle stance with her katana at her side, ready for an attack. She sheathed it into the covers and put a thumb on its metallic guard, lowering her back a little for a battojutsu move. The monster was gigantic, true, but the samurai knew her own capabilities. Even if he was large, he was still only made of stone, so she should be able to cut him down by using some of her stronger techniques.
An answer came from the right, as Violet explained, "He can assimilate the stone he touches…and since this palace is all made of stone, he basically controls this whole place!" Suddenly, the fear that was gone only moments ago came rushing back as Violet remembered all of Pica's crazy abilities. How do they fight something that huge?
A deafening sound surrounded them, coming from every direction. Noises of grinding, grating and breaking of rock came from every corner as the corridors continued to shake violently. The space appeared to narrow around them, trapping their movements as walls started to close in on them.
"He's moving the walls! He's trying to crush us!" Zoro was the first to react as he noticed the sudden change in space.
"Everyone, get ready!" Luffy clenched his fist, ready to break through anything standing in his way.
They hardly had any time to act as Pica hit them with this surprise attack. In a matter of seconds, the walls flew down towards them, rocks crashing onto the group. The two kenshi didn't hesitate even for a second, as they acted in haste as soon as they saw the walls closing in on them swiftly. Their actions took only a split second as Zoro swung his three swords, and Miyako did one slash from the battojutsu stance and then another one with Yawarakai-Te in her hands. To an untrained eye, their movements would be seen only as a blur, however every move was highly coordinated and precisely aimed to the right place of the walls. Only moments later, the walls that were supposed to serve as a death trap shattered into smaller boulders that now rained down on the group. Luffy quickly stepped in front, finishing the job, as he used his 'Gatling gun' to break the boulders into even smaller pieces and shatter them to dust that rained down onto the group.
Miyako shielded her head with her free hand as dust and specs of rock fell from the sky like a hail shower. As the dust cloud finally settled, she peered upwards to see the stone giant still standing in the same place as before. Yet, his unyielding stare towards them seemed darker than before, as if he was enraged that they survived his attack. The girl met the stone monster's glare with a troubled expression. "I think we just made him angry."
As if that was his queue to attack, Pica pulled his thick arms even deeper into the walls and started manipulating the whole castle floor level. Once again, waves of stone swirled and rocked around them, creating a picture of distorted space.
*He can easily crush us with his attacks! He's practically pulling this whole hall down on us!* Miyako found herself cursing, but still kept her ground as she observed the giant devil fruit user, searching for any weaknesses they could use. Finally, her gaze fell on the two large arms, elbow deep in the walls on each side, and an idea crossed her mind. She grabbed her katana with both hands and gave Zoro a sideways glance before shouting over the noises of moving rock. "Go for the arms, he'll lose control of the castle!" If her presumption was correct, Pica was using his arms in the walls to manipulate the castle. If they were to sever his arms now, they would also cut any connection he had to the walls. She doubted it would stop the stone giant for good, but it might give them time to retreat from there. She hated turning her back to the enemy, but they were in close quarters, completely surrounded by stone halls. It was like a giant death trap; a closed box where their enemy could manipulate every part of it. Pica could easily squash them like ants if they didn't act fast.
Luckily, Zoro instantly understood Miyako's plan and prepared all three of his swords without a word. He placed the last one, Wado Ichimonji, into his mouth and bit hard on the hilt of it.
The girl couldn't help but wonder at that moment, exactly how hard Roronoa's jaw muscles were if he could hold an entire weight of the sword simply with his mouth. The sword remained steady and unmoving between his teeth, making her think further about how does he even cut anyone with it. She had to admit it was quite an impressive feat; one that even the samurai from Wano probably couldn't accomplish. Then again, nobody in Wano ever even dreamed of making a style that uses three swords; santoryuu. Before the Pirate Hunter it was completely unheard of, and in Wano some still consider it only a rumor and do not believe such a thing can be possible. However, it was hard to argue when the proof was right in front of her eyes.
Focusing back on their task, Miyako concentrated on the Pica's right arm while Zoro aimed for the left. Just as Pica dove down towards them, pulling the walls and even the ceiling with him, the two kenshi attacked. The ground shook and started to rise and fall like the sea, making it hard to stand still on the floor, so Zoro and Miyako jumped up into the air before slashing with their swords.
The combination of the Pirate Hunter's santoryuu and the samurai's ittouryuu was enough to slice right through both of Pica's arms, making the giant lose not only his control of the palace momentarily, but also his balance. Since he was diving down while in the middle of his attack, Pica lost his support and crashed down head first towards them.
"Whoa, he's falling right onto us!" Even Luffy looked a bit panicked when Pica's rock body started approaching them quickly and his shadow darkened the hall more and more as he fell. Ironically, the rubber captain was probably the only one who would be able to survive Pica's body crushing him without a scratch on him.
"Everybody run!" Violet screamed and the whole group turned to run from the falling body without looking back. They all knew that Pica was far from defeated and was only a matter of time before the giant came at them again. They needed to get outside or at least as far from the paramecia as possible. Yet was there really a safe place inside the castle from the giant when he was able to control the entire palace with his powers?
They heard a loud crash behind them and the ground shook violently as Pica's huge body fell to the ground. The group almost fell over, but continued to run to a safe distance, until they realized Zoro wasn't with them anymore.
*Don't tell me that guy turned a wrong corner again!* The samurai girl scowled, turning her head to see what was up with the Pirate Hunter. On her surprise, she could see his tall form standing there, in front of the giant stone monster, with two of his swords out and waiting. Pica was already stirring again, slowly getting back up.
"Zoro?" Luffy called questioningly to his first mate.
Roronoa answered them without looking back, his one eye still focusing solely on their new enemy. "You guys go on ahead, I'll take care of this bastard. Otherwise, he'll just slow us all down."
"What? You are going to take Pica on by yourself?!" Violet couldn't believe it, and the shock was evident in her wide eyes. No matter how strong these pirates were, taking on one of the strongest executives by themselves was crazy! Roronoa didn't even know all of Pica's abilities and exactly how dangerous this giant could be.
Ignoring the woman's complaints, Luffy simply nodded at Zoro's words. "I'll let you take care of it then." He turned to Miyako and smirked, "Let's go get Law back."
Miyako's expression stayed serious and she nodded without a word. That was her most important goal at the moment and she knew that if they wanted to have a chance at it, somebody had to stop Pica from attacking all of them. Besides, the girl believed that if that someone is Roronoa Zoro, he'll come out of that battle victorious. She never expected their task to be easy and without obstacles anyway. She knew Doflamingo's men would surely try to get in their way, but she already decided that wouldn't stop her.
"Will he really be alright…?" Violet was still worried about the swordsman's decision.
"Don't worry about him, he'll be fine," Strawhat quickly reassured her before continuing "Alright! Let's go!" Luffy announced, seeing the samurai's impatient expression and the trio started running through the Royal Palace again.
~…~
In the same Royal Place, currently occupied by the false king Doflamingo, there was more than one battle going on. A wooden toy soldier that was barely higher than a child moved his one remaining leg as he swung a toy rifle at his side.
"Haaaa!" With a battle cry, the toy soldier charged at an enemy in front of him with every strength he had left in his fragile body. His friends, the brave warriors of the Tontatta tribe, were already lying on the floor and mostly unconscious. Yet despite injuries of his own, the little soldier refused to give up the fight. He knew exactly what was at stake here and how many lives of this kingdom depended on him; people of Dressrosa who still knew nothing of this country's true past, Tontatta Kingdom whose residents were fooled and used as slaves to work in the SAD factory…But most of all, the soldier had one face in front of him the whole time. A smiling face of a pink-haired girl, looking up at him with her bright caramel eyes. She was almost a woman now, aged 16, yet he still saw her as his little girl that he needed to protect.
*Rebecca! I will survive this and come back to you! Wait for me!* He remembered her crying face as she called out to him from the Corrida Colosseum, only a few hours ago. They both knew she didn't want to fight there, yet she insisted on doing something. To win. Just like him, she wanted this nightmare called Doflamingo to end, even if she didn't yet know of the entire truth. And how could she? How could he explain to his own child that he was actually Kyros, her father, when she didn't even remember him? Just thinking of that fact made the soldier's wooden chest sting, even if he didn't know if there was still a beating heart in this small, broken body anymore.
*A father should never let his child get hurt. You were driven to such desperation that you, who was always a gentle child, became a gladiator. I'm sorry Rebecca! I promise you, I will win here, and you will never have to fight or get hurt again!*
The toy soldier charged, holding his rifle like a club while aiming at the old man in front of him. Even if he looked like a geezer, Kyros knew that was Lao G, one of the top executives of the Donquixote Family. The proof of this old guy's strength was all around as the Tontattas laid there in pain and injuries. They barely put a scratch on him in this battle.
The soldier was the only one who stubbornly kept getting up and attacking again and again, no matter how many times Lao G both told him and showed him it was futile. So once again he was attacking the old man, both hands firmly clutching his weapon.
The oldest member of the Family watched the peculiar soldier seriously under his bushy eyebrows. The winkles on his face moved as he frowned, seeing his enemy was so relentless yet helpless at the same time. "This geezer will not let you pass! There is the G!" He made a sign of letter G with his hands, seemingly unworried about Kyros' incoming attack. Before the soldier reached him, the old man clenched his right fist and sent a shock wave through the air by his punch, aimed straight at his assailant.
However, the Thunder Soldier of Rage didn't get his nickname lightly. With one strong push of his leg, the toy quickly dodged Lao G's attack to the side and then jumped forward. He found himself above the Donquixote officer with the riffle raised in the air, ready to swing it down on the geezer.
With surprisingly quick reflexes and nimble moves, Lao G kicked one foot so high in the air, he almost did the splits with his legs, still standing firmly on the ground with the other and presenting remarkable balance. His kick blocked the incoming blow of the soldier's rifle, while he prepared another punch from his side.
This time Kyros was in the air and in a disadvantage as he couldn't move with his usual lightning speed. With both his hands busy and weapon blocked, he had nothing to protect himself with when the full force of Lao G's fist hit him.
Even if the wooden toy had no lungs, Kyros still felt a feeling of air rushing out of his body as he choked up from the pain. "Ghn!" A grunt escaped him before he was blowen away and into a nearby wall, crashing down on the floor and rolling a few meters away on the ground.
Lao G moved back into a battle stance and opened his fist into a G sign instead. "Gio-fist! That's the G!" He pulled both hands in front of him, doing a G pose. He styed like that for a while, shaking like a leaf at its end. For some it would appear it was because he was showing his pose to the opponent, but the truth was a sharp pain passed through his crotch from delivering that high kick, making the old man hold his breath until the ruthless pain subsided. It took his body some time to recover before he could move again.
He walked over slowly, his legs suddenly shaking and unsteady from old age, even if he demonstrated their strength only seconds ago. As he approached the Thunder Soldier who lay on the floor unmoving, the Family officer prepared his final attack to end this battle. "You fought bravely, but this is your end." Just as he was about to finish with another Jio-Ken move, the whole floor started to shake. He lowered his fist, picking up on the rumble of the palace even with his bad hearing. "Huh? What is this shake? Maybe Pica? Why is there such a ruckus?" He sounded like an old man complaining about the noise made by the young kids next door. Perhaps it would be comical if he wasn't a dangerous old man that kills his enemies without mercy.
That one second of hesitation was enough for his opponents to act. Suddenly the Tontatta dwarfs jumped up despite their previous injuries and grabbed a hold of Lao G. Even if their skill or power was no match against the old Executive, they were still very strong and could at least hold him off for a while. What they lacked in power, they made up for in heart. None of them gave up, ignoring their painful wounds and bleeding cuts, as they clutched onto Lao G and wouldn't let go.
"We're not letting go!" The Tontattas yelled as they held Lao G back while the leader of the Yellow Kabu Squad helped Kyros back on his one foot.
Still shaken from Lao G's previous blow, it took Kyros a few moments to realize what was happening. By that time, Kabu was already dragging him away from the scene, while the other dwarfs tried to hold back the old man as much as possible. "Wait…He'll kill them!" The soldier coughed from strain as he weakly tried to resist his friend's hold on him to run back and help his men. He was the one who led them here, starting the whole revolution. They trusted him and followed him blindly in battle. How could he abandon them now when facing the enemy?!
"Look in front of you captain!" Kabu yelled back, trying to muffle the sounds of battle behind them. They could hear Lao G's yells and complaints as the dwarfs continued to hold him back. They were a brave little sort; nobody could deny that. Kabu was joined with a few more flying Tontatta warriors, who helped them run forward into the Royal Palace along with the weak Kyros. "This was our intent from the beginning! We need to take Doflamingo down and that is all that matters…otherwise, every sacrifice we made will be pointless!"
As much as Kyros hated it, he knew Kabu was right. The Squad leader was a fine soldier who knew what he had to focus on…even if it wasn't easy. Once again, Rebecca's face flashed through the soldier's mind and it suddenly became clearer. The daze from his painful fight was gone as he knew what he needed to do. *I'm coming for you, Doflamingo! I will show you my rage that has been boiling for ten long years.*
"You are the only one who can defeat Doflamingo, Captain Kyros!" Another soldier of the Tontatta Kingdom yelled in firm belief.
Just as their spirits rose a little, another dark cloud fell over them in a form of trouble. A man stood in their way, only a few meters away and slowly walking towards them. His long coat swayed behind him as he glared at his enemies through a pair of thick goggles. He looked more like some sort of engineer than a warrior, but his appearance was already well-known among the Tontatta group.
"Gladius," Kyros exclaimed in surprise as another Executive of the Doflamingo Family stood in their way. *Dammit, we have no luck! We barely escaped the last executive, and here comes another one!*
"Captain…" The soldier heard Kabu's soft voice beside him. He glanced at the flying warrior and a feeling of his throat closing in angst overwhelmed him after seeing Kabu's expression. He could tell exactly what his friend was thinking and he didn't like it. He remembered the words of his friend from a while ago; 'This was our intent from the beginning!' He wanted to shake his head and stop Kabu from going through with it, but a part of his mind still kept seeing Doflamingo's sneering expression and he knew that something had to be done. His body didn't move to stop Kabu and the other dwarfs, not even when they flew right into Gladius, knowing full well it was a battle they were bound to lose.
"Hmm? Why do I have to fight you, rats?" Gladius asked lazily, though he didn't expect any answer to come, anyway. He appeared bored rather than angry, as he found no challenge in his opponents. Some would call it foolish overconfidence, but in this case it was the truth.
Even knowing all that, the soldiers still attacked. "Let's go, Lampo!" Kabu glanced at his dwarf companion and both of them rushed towards Gladius, weapons ready. They didn't got even one hit in before the man grabbed them, each in one hand, and used his devil fruit powers. His wrists inflated like balloons to an inhuman size, before blowing up and creating two blinding explosions.
"Lampo! Kabu!" Kyros yelled but got no answer through the flashing light and blaring sound of exploding air. Gritting his fake teeth, he had no choice but to use this opportunity to push forward as planned. Cursing his ineptitude against the Executives, the soldier skated passed Gladius, veiled by the bright light. He passed him successfully and found himself behind the man, when Gladius noticed him.
Just when Kyros thought he managed to avoid the danger and move on, a shadow imposed over him. "You won't escape me, little toy," Gladius commented and before the other even had time to dodge, he jumped onto the Lightning Soldier and grabbed him by the back of his neck like an escaping animal.
"I am a Burst Man. I ate the Pamu Pamu Fruit and I can blow myself up…and also all the inorganic things I touch." As he explained it, Gladius used him power to inflate Kyros' head to ten times its size.
The soldier struggled, but there was no hope of escape from Gladius' steel grip. He could feel his entire head swell and become heavier, like a giant balloon ready to burst. "Stop…Let go! I…I have a mission!" All he could think of was Rebecca's smiling face. That expression he longed to see once more, yet now he might never see it again.
The Executive wasn't listening, as he continued to inflate the toy with his powers. "I will turn you into dust!"
"Gomu gomu no….JET STAMP!" A kick from the heavens came crashing down right into Gladius' stomach, sending the man flying backwards and onto the ground. In the process, he let go of the wooden toy which quickly deflated back to its original state, flying like a balloon that just lost all its air suddenly.
"Who…*cough* Who are you!?" there was barely any air left in Gladius' lungs as he fought the pain in his stomach. He still felt the little dent there as if his attacker left a noticeable footprint from such a powerful kick.
The toy soldier fell from the sky as the last of the dangerous air left his head, and fell right into the hands of his savior. Gladius followed the soldier's path with his gaze, until it fell on the group standing before him. The hand holding Kyros' head belong to no other than Strawhat Luffy, who was supposed to be fighting in the Corrida Colosseum at the moment. Beside him, two women stood on each side. One was glaring at him with bright golden eyes, standing with her katana clutched in both hands and the tip aimed right at Gladius. He recognized her face from the wanted posters and remembered she was in Law's pirate crew. The other woman was no stranger to him and Gladius glared at her hatefully as his expression darkened behind his goggles. "Violet…you traitor," he mumbled loud enough for her to hear.
Violet had no trouble recognizing him either, as they both used to work for the same man. She felt shivers run down her back just from his glare, even before she heard his booming voice continue to accuse her. "How dare you! You betrayed the young lord!"
Before the woman could respond, Luffy stepped forward and clutched his fist. "Shuddup! Bring it on aready!"
"Wait!" It was Miyako who stopped him. "There's no time to fight him, remember? Wasn't the whole point of Roronoa-san staying behind to give us a chance, so we could get to Law without distractions!? If we let them delay us here, we'll just get into one of Doflamingo's traps and won't get to Law before that bastard kills him," the girl explained, still holding onto Luffy's shoulder so he wouldn't jump into action.
Luckily, the words seemed to calm the boy and he backed down, albeit clearly unsatisfied. Instead of starting a fight, he swung the exhausted wooden toy over his shoulder and nodded to the girl, even if he still had an annoyed expression while frowning at the enemy before them.
"Let's just go to the second floor, quick," Violet also helped out by pulling Strawhat's hand towards the stairway.
"Wait! I won't let you escape!" Gladius struggled to get up, still feeling the residue of Luffy's strong kick. However, the trio was already running towards the upper floor without looking back, as they took the toy soldier with them.
Miyako dared to look behind her just in time to see Gladius started chasing them. "Ugh, he's going after us!" She wanted to stop and fight him to let Luffy and Violet escape to where Law is, but she also wanted to be there when they rescue him and deal with Doflamingo. While the samurai debated which course of action she should take, Gladius acted.
"Violet, I will never forgive you for being a traitor!" He shouted after them, finally pushing the woman's buttons. She didn't want to be affiliated with the Donquixote family any longer, and hearing Gladius' words only made it sound as if she was actually on Doflamingo's side before.
Her eyebrow twitched in irritation as she turned around to face the man, determined to set him straight. "I didn't betray Doflamingo because I was never on your side at all!"
The answer angered the Executive even more, making him clench his fists at his side as he continued to walk towards the group. "It's still an insult to the young lord…" With his every step, the top of his head inflated, becoming bigger and bigger. The black helmet on his head widened to a hefty size, the material stretching painfully. His glare never left Violet as he used his powers, the top of his head finally exploding. "Helmet Punk!"
The group was already further away so the heart of the explosion wouldn't reach them, but Miyako still felt the strong heat wave from the blow. The problem, however, were the deadly sharp shards of debris that flew towards them with the explosion.
Quickly, Miyako placed her sword in front of her and tried to protect Luffy and Violet who were behind her by deflecting the incoming debris. She blocked most of the shards, but there was so many of them it was hard to stop them all. Some managed to get passed her and flew towards Violet. "Violet-dono, look out!" Miyako turned to warn the other woman, but it was too late as one of the shards managed to hit Violet and dug deep into her shoulder. The woman screamed and stumbled, luckily being caught by Luffy before she hit the floor.
"Whoa!" Luffy still held the toy soldier with one hand to steady him on his shoulder, while grabbing Violet and lifting her up into his other arm. "Sorry for not blocking it, are you ok?"
"Violet-sama!" Kyros yelled in panic as he saw the member of the royal family injured.
Before they had time to check on Violet, Miyako appeared beside them again, sheathing back her katana in its scabbard. "Luffy-san, we have to go!" She warned the captain, seeing that Gladius was still coming after them. "Where are we running to, anyway?" All she saw in front of them was a dead-end with a giant window in the middle. "You're not thinking…," a feeling of dread washed over her as he started to pick up on Luffy's plan. "Just a quick reminder that none of us can fly and we are very high up," she shouted, still running alongside the pirate captain as they dangerously started nearing the window.
"Miyako, jump on my back!" Luffy called out suddenly.
"Eh!?"
"Quickly!"
Acting before she could think about it properly and hesitate when imagining the consequences, Miyako jumped onto Luffy's back and held onto his shoulders tightly, afraid to even think about what was coming next.
"Wait, the stairs aren't that way," Violet exclaimed, her eyebrows knit together as she still felt puzzled by Strawhat's actions. She didn't understand until it was too late and they were already breaking through the large window as Luffy shattered the glass with his foot before jumping out.
Suddenly the whole group found themselves high in the air, depending on Strawhat Luffy. The samurai had to remind herself not to look down as she tightened her grip on Luffy's neck for support. Through the swishing of air, she could hear Violet's screams of shock as they continued to fall from the first floor of the palace. She heard Luffy say something, but couldn't really concentrate as she just kept herself focused on not falling off. The pirate captain moved again and they suddenly stopped falling. There was a split second of simply staying in place in the air, as if floating completely weightless, before they were once again moving even faster than before. They were suddenly moving upwards as they shot up towards the second floor of the building. Miyako felt an unpleasant feeling in her stomach from that sudden change in direction and speed, but still kept holding on for dear life. Once again, Violet's piercing scream shocked her eardrums.
Even when they stopped moving and were safely standing on solid ground of the second floor, Miyako still held onto Luffy's neck tightly. It took her a few moments to hear him hacking and coughing, before she realized what was going on.
"Miya..*cough* can't…*hack*..breathe…" Strawhat's straining raspy voice brought her back to reality and the girl blinked a few times before she finally released her grip.
"Oh…sorry," she quickly apologized and got off of his back, letting go of his neck so he could take a few deep gulps of air.
"Are we here?" The pirate captain asked when he could finally breathe normally again. He set the toy soldier back onto the ground carefully and stared back at Violet. All eyes turned to her for an answer.
The woman nodded as she held onto her bleeding wound. Luckily it was quite shallow and not life-threatening. Even so, Miyako grimaced at the sight of it. "Are you ok, Violet-dono? Perhaps we should take care of that first-"
The other woman shook her head, cutting her off. "There's no time. I'm fine, don't worry about me. Come, I will take you to the Suit room. Doflamingo must be there."
Only for a second the samurai hesitated as she remembered one more obstruction that might get in their way. *If Doflamingo is there, then surely Isshou-san is, as well,* she clutched her hands at her sides as she stared at the floor. Violet's voice was drowned in her own thoughts as Miyako remembered the old friend of her master. *Am I really to fight him? How can I face my master's old friend? What's more, can I even defeat him? I know Isshou-san's strength…he was unbelievable even when I was a child so he must've only gotten stronger since then. Especially since he is a Navy admiral now.* As her thoughts continued, Miyako felt determination in her heart. *Even if I can't defeat him, if I can keep him away from the others long enough for them to save Law it would be enough. No matter what happens to me, we must get to Law! If I can just keep him busy for long enough, my sacrifice won't be in vain!* She nodded to herself, just as Luffy's voice broke through her musings.
"-yako. Miyako!" Luffy called out, and the girl snapped her head up quickly, blinking away the haziness of her thoughts. "Let's go, we're moving out." He turned away and everyone started running towards the Suit room.
~…..~
The moment they arrived at the Suit room, Miyako's gaze fell on the slumped body tied to the throne chair in the room. "Law!" Instinctively, she almost jumped over the glass window to run to her captain, but was quickly pulled back by Violet and the toy soldier who made her crouch down and hide.
"Shh, be quite or we'll lose the element of surprise," Kyros warned as he peered over and through the window to inspect the situation.
The group looked at the lush room painted in golden and red, with tapestry decorating the walls and a large red carpet leading from one wall to the other. Four large thrones stood in the middle of it, each seat shaped like a card symbol; heart, spade, club and diamond one. It was obvious why Doflamingo decided to call it the Suit Room. Miyako wanted to ask what those thrones represented, guessing it was for the top five executives of the Family, but she was distracted by the conversation inside the room. Besides Law who was still unmoving in his seat, there were a few more distinct people in the room. Two of them Miyako recognized from Punk Hazard; a dark-haired woman in a maid's outfit and a large strange-looking young man. She racked her brain to try and remember their names, finally thinking back when Caesar called them Baby 5 and Buffalo. They were talking to Doflamingo about the current developments, surrounded by a few of Donquixote Family's henchmen. There seemed to be one more prisoner other than Law in the room as well. An old, but muscular man with a snow white beard and a blue cape wrapped around his bare shoulders. He was sitting cross-legged nearby, chained tightly so he couldn't move. The samurai sighed out in relief unconsciously when she realized Isshou wasn't with them in the Suit room. That was at least one less problem to worry about at the moment.
A sudden commotion brought Miyako back to her own surroundings when someone bumped into her from behind and she heard Luffy's angry voice as he fidgeted impatiently. "Why are we hiding? Mingo's right there!"
Violet tried to calm him down as she whispered back, "Calm down or you'll ruin the plan."
The samurai frowned suspiciously, "What plan?"
"The plan about incapacitating Sugar," the toy soldier was the one to answer, bringing the group's attention onto himself. "If Leo and the others take care of Sugar, one of Doflamingo's executives, then all the enslaved toys will turn back to being human…including myself. That way I can definitely defat Doflamingo throughout all the confusion!"
"Hey, I'll be the one to kick Mingo's ass!" Strawhat argued with a childish frown.
Ignoring Luffy, Miyako commented, "So all those toys were really human once…that's horrible. That means some of them lived like that, forgotten, for the past ten years." The more this country's true nature revealed itself to her, the more she realized what a monster Doflamingo really was.
Kyros's head bowed down as if his mood darkened suddenly. "Yes…for ten years…"
Breaking the dim atmosphere, Luffy's voice interrupted again. "Can we go in now?!"
"Not yet!" Violet responded, already a bit annoyed by his impatience.
Suddenly they heard voices from the inside again. Miyako recognized it immediately; it was the voice of her captain. It was raspy and sounded labored, but at least it meant her captain was alive. Everyone turned to look in the Suit Room as Law talked back to Doflamingo, giving him as much of a glare as he could muster. There wasn't much else he could do chained like that, anyway.
"I have no idea what you're talking about…my alliance with the Strawhats is over already," the captain of the Heart pirates answered.
"Heh…I wonder about that…Then perhaps, it was you, King Riku!" Doflamingo changed his accusing stare towards the old man.
"Father!" It was Violet's turn to exclaim in surprise and almost blow their cover as she noticed her father among the prisoners.
Even Kyros added a shocked, "King Riku!" at the same time.
"That's your father!? So you're royalty," Miyako concluded.
"Are you Rebecca's mother then?" Luffy asked, but Violet shook her head.
"No, Rebecca's mother was Scarlet, my sister. But she was killed…ten years ago." Her tone turned a shade darker as she explained, remembering a painful memory.
"I'm sorry…," Miyako didn't know what else to say, but her gaze softened sympathetically as she noticed Violet's expression. The woman's eyes turned glassy, as if she was fighting back the tears behind them. Trying to change the topic for Violet's sake, Miyako asked another question, "So why is your father there?"
Violet thought for a second before remembering something, "My father went to fight in the Corrida Colosseum today. He wanted to get the devil fruit and use it to defeat Doflamingo…however he was defeated and perhaps Doflamingo uncovered his identity instead," she explained. She was about to say something else when she suddenly stopped and turned to stare at something. To everyone else it seemed like she was simply staring blankly at the wall, but Violet was a devil fruit user herself, one that could use clairvoyance. She must've seen something with her power. "Oh no…"
"What is it?" Luffy asked, a bit too loudly again.
"The enemy is approaching from the first floor!"
"Dammit, we can't wait for this plan of yours to succeed. We need to act now while we still have the element of surprise over Doflamingo," Miyako said while putting one hand on the hilt of Yawarakai-Te.
"I agree…it's better than being surrounded. Usoland and the others won't make it," the toy soldier nodded in agreement. He stared at the sword he picked up from one of the defeated henchmen before, examining it sharpness, before looking at Miyako and Luffy again. "So you were all pirates. Even Usoland and Fraland." It was a statement, rather than a question.
Luffy stared back at the toy, his expression unreadable. "Is that a problem?"
Miyako already prepared herself for an onslaught of insults and accusations that were sure to come. After all, pirates were the ones who brought so much grief to Dressrosa in the first place. The few people who knew the truth had no reason to trust any pirate ever again. Surprisingly, the attack never came. Instead Kyros explained, "I am infamous too. As long as we have the same goal, it's reassuring."
The samurai girl blinked in surprise. She heard a lot of attributes contributed to pirates, but reassuring was never one of them. She found herself smiling at his words before even realizing it. She gazed at her companions one after the other; Violet, Luffy and Kyros. They were all prepared for a battle, already adamant on winning even if it meant risking their lives. She held one hand on the hilt of her sword and the other on the crimson-red scabbard, and nodded at them. "Let's make Doflamingo regret ever stepping foot in this country."
Luffy grinned at her words, while both Violet and Kyros nodded seriously. The trio were just about to jumped through the opening above them and attack Doflamingo, when they heard a scream come from the den den mushi in the room.
"Sorry Doffy! Sugar lost consciousness!"
"What!?" Doflamingo's voice boomed in anger and surprise, distracting Miyako from their planned actions.
Suddenly, from the corner of her eye she could see a mind-blowing transformation take place. The toy soldier started growing, his shape deforming while he changed color. Thin wooden arms were replaced by strong muscular human ones, his head changed shape until the top hat he wore was gone and replaced by long black hair and a similar beard. Right in front of her, the wooden toy soldier was turning into a proper, one-legged human, still clutching that long sword in his hand.
Miyako opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Before she could comment on the sudden shapeshifting, the soldier was already jumping over the window and into the Suit Room, his sword in hand.
She watched him go, hearing the faint sounds of Violet's voice near her as the woman remembered everything and explained about Kyros the gladiator., Kyros, the soldier and Kyros, Rebecca's father. "Now that Sugar is unconscious, her devil fruit power stopped working and everyone returned back to normal. We regained our memories," she finished, hot tears streaming down her face. It was tears of pain for the toy soldier who lived all those years forgotten, guilt for ever forgetting member of her family and also happiness for finding out about her lost brother-in-law once more.
"That's great, but more importantly, shouldn't we help him!" Miyako suggested, finally standing up from their hiding place to see the situation more clearly and jump over the window. Her main focus was to get to Law now, but he was still chained to that damned seat. Luckily, Violet was the one with the key to his handcuffs.
They were once again distracted by a loud voice of King Riku and the soldier Kyros, just before they all witnessed an astonishing sight. Luffy, Violet, Miyako and all the others present in the room stared with wide eyes and gaping mouths in shocked silence, as Kyros' sword sliced clean through Doflamingo's neck. It was a perfect cut from a skilled warrior, easily separating the head from the body.
*No way! Will it really be this easy!?* Miyako couldn't believe it even while witnessing Doflamingo's death. She really wanted to believe that was the end of it, but she already learnt from past experience things were never that simple. Life just wasn't that easy.
Suddenly, whole chaos broke loose from all sides. In the Suit Room Doflamingo's henchmen were screaming in shock, Kyros was yelling in anger, and a loud tapping of footsteps filled the hall as Donquixote's reinforcements came running from the first floor. By that time Miyako was already jumping inside the room and rushing towards Law, calling her captain's name.
"Let's save Torao!" Luffy was right behind her, still carrying a surprised Violet.
~….~
"Whaaaa!"
"Dad, is that you?!"
"Honey! It's been ten years!"
"Kyaaa! Pirates came out of nowhere!"
Screams and cries filled the streets of Dressrosa as commotion and confusion took over the towns. However, through the confusion, sudden clarity and understanding also appeared among the citizens as their long-time forgotten memories finally came back into the light.
Only one person stayed still and kept their calm demeanor as chaos unfolded around them. The Navy admiral Fujitora kept sitting on the crate and observed his surroundings. Not with eyes since he was completely blind, but with every other sense, including his haki. He could feel pain, sadness, happiness, anger, love and hate all swirling in the auras around him.
One of the marine officers ran over to the quiet admiral, desperately trying to understand the situation. "Isshou-sama! The toys are turning into people and a lot of them are pirates! Tell us what to do! There's even wild animals everywhere!"
"Is everywhere the same?" Fujitora asked calmly, still sitting on the crate.
The marine nodded. "We're getting reports from all around the country. Toys are turning into pirates, ex-soldiers of Dressrosa, Government Officials, sailors, elites of other countries and even beasts! We need reinforcements right away!"
The marine vice admiral, Bastille, had two working den den mushi in his hand, both items reporting the same thing from the marines in other towns. Pained cries came from the den den mushi before connection was cut off as pirates started getting into fights with marines there. Bastille walked over to Fujitora silently. "So what do we now-dara?"
Fujitora kept silent for a while as he mused over the situation. *So it has finally begun….the shroud clouding this country's true self is being ripped apart. And the ones getting hurt once again, will be the innocent citizens of Dressrosa.* Through his thoughts, another face flashed in his mind. A face of a certain girl with bright golden eyes that he came to know so well. *What will you do now, Miyako-chan? Or was it…that you had something to do with this in the first place?* Putting that particular problem aside, Fujitora prepared his katana as he made a decision. "The civilians are our priority. I will stop the chaos in this country, before any more people get hurt." Finally he stood up, his expression deadly serious as his marine coat danced around him in the wind. "Prepare to move out!"
"Aye aye sir!" The marines shouted back, saluting the admiral.
~…..~
*I don't know what's happening in this country right now, but there's no way I'm letting this chance escape me! Now is the time to rescue Law while the rest of them are busy.* Miyako rushed over to the heart seat where Law was being chained, her katana in her hands.
"Torao! We've come to save you!" Luffy's voice called out behind her, reaching Trafalgar's ears as he turned around towards the incoming group with his eyes open wide.
His gaze first fell on his crewmember, watching her approach with a worried stare as if he's seen a ghost. "Miyako!? What-? And Strawhat-ya!?" His surprised expression soon turned into an angry one as he saw the people coming to save him. *That idiot, he even brought Miyako! She is the last person I want here with Doflamingo!*
As soon as she saw Law's serious wounds, Miyako's throat closed up with worry before a burning anger for Doflamingo further enveloped her heart. But before cutting the bastard to pieces as she planned, she first had to help her captain. "Are you alright? Can you move?!"
The said captain ignored her as he still glared at his saviors. "Don't mind me, why did you come here?! Strawhat-ya, what about the factory!?"
"Stop right there, you intruders!" Gladius' enraged voice called out behind them as Doflamingo's henchmen burst through the room, led by him. He saw the mess the whole room was in, with Kyros helping King Riku break free while the pirates went to save Trafalgar Law. Meanwhile, Doflamingo's head was lying on the floor, separated from his body which was still and lifeless. "Y-young Lord!" He couldn't believe his eyes at the state of Doflamingo before him.
"Ah, dammit, not him again!" Miyako all but growled in annoyance as she saw the familiar enemy come after them again. "You help Law, I'll take care of that guy and keep him at bay," she cast a glance at Luffy before running back towards Gladius.
"Wait, you've seen his ability! Don't be reckless," Violet tried to stop the samurai girl, knowing that Gladius could easily blow even the girl's katana up.
"Oy, Miyako, get back here! Don't-" Law also tried to stop her, but even as his hand flew towards the girl, it stopped suddenly. For a second he even forgot he was still held back by the sea stone cuffs.
Law's eyes turned back to the Strawhat pirate's captain, giving the boy another glare that completely went flying over his head. "Didn't I tell you are alliance is already over!? We're enemies now!"
Strawhat puffed his cheeks in anger, completely disputing the other captain's words, "What are you saying? Miyako and I worked together just fine! I'm the one who will decide that so just shut up!"
Law almost choked up just from the shock of how ridiculous Luffy's arguments were. It was like the boy only listened to his own logic, which was completely unintelligible to the rest of the world. There was no point persuading him if he didn't even want to listen. Even so, Law could be as stubborn as the Strawhat captain, whether he would ever admit it or not. "I'm telling you, with the alliance over, we're enemies now!" He mustered his best death glare towards the younger captain, determined to scare the boy away. His tone turned icy cold, just like he used with his enemies when threatening them. "If you let me escape, I'll kill you."
Yet all his threats fell on deaf ears as he was completely ignored. He watched in silent shock when he realized Strawhat wasn't even listening to him anymore, but was complaining to the woman about something concerning the sea-stone handcuffs.
"Don't move, it's hard to get these off!"
"Are you even listening to me!?"
The Surgeon of Death momentarily forgot about his bickering as he turned his head to look at Miyako, already in a battle with Gladius. He gritted his teeth at the sight, forgetting about his own safety at the moment. Actually, revenge on Doflamingo, the destruction of the SAD factory, Miyako's safety…everything right now was more important than taking care of his own wellbeing. He knew of Doflamingo's abilities and was aware that this wasn't the end for the obnoxious man. And when that bastard woke up….he didn't want his nakama anywhere near him. "Oy, forget about me and just get out of here. Take Miyako with you and go destroy the SAD factory." His tone wasn't loud and yelling like before, but was soft and deadly serious. Even Luffy was able to tell the difference, understanding Trafalgar's worry.
The Strawhat captain followed the Dark Doctor's gaze that traveled back to Miyako's back. It didn't take him a lot of time to realize that Law was worried about his nakama; an understandable worry in Luffy's mind. The boy nodded and for a second Trafalgar hoped he would listen to him. However, the reason Luffy nodded was simply a gesture to indicate he had his mind made up. "We are all getting out of here together. So just hold still already!"
~…..~
"Get out of my way, Burning-Eyed Miyako!" Gladius warned dangerously through his mask. He was surrounded by his defeated soldiers he brought with him as reinforcements. The pirate girl made quick work of them, only taking a minute to deal with his men before she turned her focus on him. However, just because she was able to defeat a few small-fry of the Family, didn't make her that great. Nobody stood a chance against his Pamu Pamu Fruit abilities; or that's at least what the explosive human believed.
The girl smirked, giving him a mocking stare of appreciation, "Ooh, you even know my nickname. Should I be flattered that I'm so popular?"
It was obvious that she was making fun of him, which only made the man more furious, making one of his veins pop out on his forehead. Surely she was just trying to taunt him so he would lose his cool, and therefore, concentration. What a cheap trick. "Don't think your little taunts will work on me! I'll blow you up until there aren't even bones left!"
The girl arched an eyebrow at his response. "It seems it worked just fine, though."
"Shut up, I'm not going to-" Gladius lost his temper as he yelled at the woman, but never got to finish the sentence before she disappeared from his field of vision.
Miyako was just waiting for him to lose it and lower his guard. Any little opening would do and she finally got one as he got angrier. That's why her master always taught her never to lose her calm in a fight. Show your emotions and you become easy to read. Get too heated and your guard falters. 'That's how even the best swordsmen get killed,' she remembered him say once. Just one tiny mistake is all your enemy needs to turn the odds in their favor.
As soon as she found that small opening, that little shift in Gladius' body, Miyako acted. She leaped forward, her katana held with both hands as she used all the speed she could muster in her legs to attack. She moved swiftly to the man's side in one smooth motion and swung her katana horizontally towards his head.
He saw the flash of metal with the corner of his eye and dodged at the last second, leaning all the way backwards until the tip of the katana passed right above his masked nose. He jumped back right in time to dodge yet another quick attack by the samurai, this time as a pierce aimed at his throat. He responded by trying to grab her shoulder as he found himself next to her, ready to blow his wrist up in the process, but Miyako was quicker. She jumped backwards to dodge him and then shielded herself with the sword when he blew up his arm anyway, just to throw her off with the explosion.
"Ugh!" The blast pushed Miyako away, making her stumble and almost lose her balance. She managed to collect herself again, just in time to see a number of black spheres floating towards her through the smoke. They weren't as fast as bullets, but there were a lot of them, making it hard for Miyako to move around without touching them. Even without seeing the consequences, knowing Gladius' abilities, she could easily guess what would happen if she came into contact with those. *If I'm not careful these things will surround me in no time and limit my movement. I can't let them close in on me.* Getting another idea, Miyako rushed back to distance herself from the incoming bomb bullets.
"Ha! Running away already!?" Gladius shouted in victory, seeing the samurai pull back.
The girl didn't respond as she concentrated on putting her plan into motion instead. When she deemed she was at a safe distance, she prepared her attack. 'Ittoryuu no Haki: 9 strikes!' Using her haki to create nine consecutive air strikes, she sent the slashes flying towards Gladius and his bombs through the air. Before the cuts could reach him, they hit the bomb bullets, blowing them up at contact, however that much was expected by the samurai girl. The haki strikes did their work as they blew up all of Gladius' floating weapons, leaving the space around him free for attack once more. Knowing to keep her distance from the explosive man, Miyako attacked with an aerial strike again.
'Ittouryuu; Needle Rain!' Using piercing motions and haki, the samurai sent countless piercing attacks flying towards the man, like rain of deadly steel sent towards the enemy.
Gladius instantly responded with an attack of his own. He aimed both hands towards Miyako, firing out more bullets from his wrist device. "Catapult Punc!" They flew faster this time, only inflating just before reaching their target, which were the haki pierces. As the two attacks collided, making another large explosion, only a cloud of dust remained.
With the dust settling once again, Miyako and Gladius kept standing still in their place, both only silently glaring at each other. Because of the nature of their abilities, both enemies were quite the challenging opponent to each other. Because of Gladius' devil fruit, it was hard for Miyako to come closer and attack him head on, but because of the samurai's haki, she could counter Gladius' every bomb before it reached her.
Another two veins popped out on Gladius' forehead, rest of his enraged face hidden by his mask and goggles. "I am starting to lose my patience with you…" By his tone alone, it was clear he was on the edge, sounding like he was about to explode from annoyance.
The pirate girl clicked her tongue in return, obviously irritated. "It's not like I have time to waste on you either," she commented, thinking of her captain that she came here to save. That was her reason for coming here, not to deal with this guy. She wanted to turn around and check on Law, but she couldn't let herself be distracted while fighting one of Donquixote's executives. *I'll just have to trust Luffy-san.*
"How dare you!" On Miyako's surprise, Gladius' charged at her, startling the woman for a second as she didn't expect that. "Punc Hair!" Suddenly, his hair swelled up into large spikes, reminding Miyako of a hedgehog. Before she had time to dwell on it, the spikes of hair were fired out like spears, flying right at her.
Realizing his attacks were already too close, Miyako had no choice but to jump high into the air to dodge, but as she did so, Gladius used his wrist devices to fire his bomb bullets again.
Using her katana, the girl summoned her haki to make them explode before reaching her, but the explosion was still strong enough to send her flying. "Kya!" She fell back down, rolling onto the floor a few times, coughing from all the smoke around her. The metallic sound of her katana falling next to her filled her ears as she heard the familiar clang of her guard hitting stone. She propped herself up with one hand, taking the hilt of her katana in the other, still hacking from all the smoke. As the dust cleared a bit, Miyako noticed a movement next to her when she stood up and soon realized Gladius' bombs were floating all around her, surrounding her. *When did he-!?* That one moment of distraction was enough for him to fire his bullets at her, and they were now ominously floating all around. *If I trigger just one, they will all explode!*
Even without touching, the bullets were completely under Gladius' control. She stared back at him and gulped painfully as she saw him point his hand towards her.
"Explode," on his simple icy order, the inflated bullet floating near Miyako's leg exploded, taking some of her flesh with it.
"Kyaah!" She screamed in pain, her voice muffled by the explosion, as she felt the intense heat on her leg. It felt like she was burned in that place while a part of her leg felt as if it was torn apart. The girl stumbled, only to feel the same pain near her ribcage. "Aaah!" She knelt on one knee, but propped herself up with her katana before falling completely on the floor. *No! If I stay here, I'll die!* Gritting her teeth, Miyako looked up at Gladius just in time as he gave his final order, making all the bombs explode at once.
A strong burst of heat and destruction enveloped the surroundings as a bright light flashed where the bullet bombs were triggered. A thundering noise reached everyone's ears before a blast of light was replaced by a dark cloud of dust and debris.
Law, Luffy and Violet all turned around towards the sound, watching at the large explosion with panicked expressions. "Miyako!" Trafalgar was the first to call out, impatiently waiting for her response. Any indication that she was alright! "Strawhat-ya, hurry up with those damned handcuffs!" Why was he still chained down, dammit!? Forgetting about his previous complaints, the pirate captain struggled to break free, ready to jump in and help his lover and crewmate.
"Will she be alright?!" Luffy stopped his hands for a while as he stared at the settling cloud of smoke.
There was no answer from the cloud. No sign that Miyako was alive or well. No voice calling from the distance. Before the smoke even cleared out completely, Gladius was already sure of his victory, thinking he blew his opponent to smithereens. "Ha! That's what you get for pissing me off!" He laughed, his yell muffled by the mask.
As the smoke thinned out, Gladius stepped forward to see the bloody and fleshy remains of the woman he just killed. Save for the fact that there was nothing. No bloody mess or charred remains of a body. Everything was clean…except for one new difference. His eyes narrowed behind his goggles as he noticed a hole where Miyako's dead body should be. There was a hole in the stone floor. Confused but curious, the man stepped closer. He examined the hole from afar first, noting it seemed cut open as a sharp sword would do. Both impatient and angered from being fooled, the man quickly walked over and peered right into the gaping hole. First mistake.
Just as he stood beside it, he noticed a pair of fingers on the stony edge. His eyes went wide with realization, but by then it was already too late. He got too close. A katana swished out of the hole, almost cutting his legs off, making him stumble backwards. The sword than pierced into the stone as Miyako used it for support to climb up. She jumped out of the hole that she cut beneath herself to escape the deadly explosion, and swung her leg while in a crouch, swiping Gladius' feet from under him.
"Whoa!" With a yelp, the man fell backwards, giving Miyako enough time to stand up properly and collect herself.
Seeing the girl safe and sound, Luffy cheered at the other side of the room, while Violet smiled in relief. Even Law let out a deep sigh after seeing the girl alive after all. She was limping slightly, with a burnt wound in her side and leg, but at least she was alive.
The girl smirked, brushing sweat from her brow. She was marred with black sot in some places, and dirtied with her own blood on others, and part of her clothes was ripped apart, but she still grinned in relief. "Saved," she commented on her situation, before rising her katana and pointing the tip at Gladius' throat.
Just as she was about to deliver a finishing blow to the opponent still lying on his back, a familiar voice stopped them all in their tracks and made them turn around towards its source. A deep laugh resonated throughout the room, sending shivers down Miyako's spine. The laugh sounded amused by the whole situation happening in the Suit Room, but it was also ominous, promising nothing good.
"No way…," Violet commented through a gasp.
Before they could find the man behind the laugh, the whole room shook as if a sudden earthquake hit them. However, no earthquake could do what happened next as the whole floor started rising and falling like it came to life, tossing everyone into the air and onto their behinds.
"Not that again!" Miyako shouted, remembering that stone guy's abilities that they already had the misfortune of experiencing before. What's more, Gladius took that chance to dodge her sword and retreat a safe distance from her, escaping his death.
"The stone guy!" Luffy shouted in surprise, wondering what happened to Zoro if Pica was here?
"Pica!" Violet yelled as well, knowing full well who was behind this.
Suddenly that laugh from before continued. "Huhuhuhuhu….You really managed to fool me." Everyone turned towards that voice, gasping in shock at the eerie sight before them. Doflamingo's tall body was kneeling on the ground like they left it, but the head beside it was speaking normally as if it wasn't severed from the body at all.
"W-w-what the hell!?" Strawhat couldn't contain his surprise at the scene. "Mingo is still alive!"
"How can that be!?" King Riku choked out, unable to believe his old eyes.
But it was no trick...because everybody else saw the exact same thing. Doflamingo's head was talking.
"Young lord!" Baby 5, Gladius and the other officers there called out to their boss, surprised and relieved at the same time.
"Whoa, this is so creepy!" Miyako grimaced at the sight of Doflamingo's talking head. The man freaked her out with his appearance as it is, so this was just adding the weird icing on top of an already big cake of 'Disturbing.'
For once the older Shichibukai, or rather his head, wasn't smiling. Veins popped out on his forehead though it was hard to say who he was glaring at with those sunglasses. "This is a very bad situation. I'll have to do that….the birdcage!"
Only Trafalgar seemed to understand what Doflamingo was talking about, as the others simply frowned in puzzlement by the blonde's words. Whatever it was, it was enough to make even the Surgeon of Death tremble in cold sweat. "The birdcage!" Just remembering that ability brought nightmarish memories to Law's mind. *It will be just like that time…and there will be no escape until all of Doflamingo's enemies are dead.*
"Birdcage? What are you talking about!?" Miyako demanded an answer, but as soon as Doflamingo's gaze fell on her and he twisted his lips into a sadistic, but amused grin, the girl fell quiet and gulped. She couldn't see his eyes from behind those shades, but could clearly feel his stare burn through her, ironically making her feel ice cold all over.
"You are creepy! Why are you still alive?!" Kyros agreed with the samurai woman, leaping towards Doflamingo's head with his sword to finish the Shichibukai off.
Miyako felt in her gut that something was wrong when she noticed Doflamingo's smirk didn't even falter. He seemed too confident for a guy who was just a defenseless head. *Is it a trap!?* Answering her inner question, a large shadow appeared right above the soldier. The typical feathery form was hard to confuse for anyone else.
"Soldier!"
"Kyros-niisama!"
"Look out!"
The screams of warning came all around as they saw the deadly attack aimed right at Kyros' head. But how was it that Doflamingo was attacking the man from behind, when his head was still clearly lying on the ground beneath Kyros' feet? Realizing there wasn't any time to mull over that fact, everybody moved into action. Miyako could see Doflamingo's leg swing towards the soldier's head, but she soon realized it wasn't just a normal kick on his part.
Luckily, Strawhat was faster and managed to get to Kyros before Doflamingo's leg hit. The boy jumped onto the black-haired man and pushed his head down to the floor, crouching as well.
Just as Miyako expected, the attack didn't stop there even when the Shichibukai missed his target. Instead, the kick created a sharp, thin layer that sliced through the air, stone and everything in its way. Quickly, the girl knelt down and kept her head low to avoid any contact with the deadly slice. On her surprise, the whole room easily separated from the attack. First a thin line appeared on all four of the decorated walls, before the stone completely divided and the upper part of the Suit Room slid off.
The laugh of the young lord continued as he wasn't done quite yet. On everyone's surprise, even his own henchmen, another body of Doflamingo appeared. One was completely whole with his head still attached, while the other continued to attack even headless.
"What the hell?! Which is the real one?" Miyako glanced from one Doflamingo to the other, as both jumped to attack Luffy who was still on the ground with Kyros. Deciding it was time to help end this madness, Miyako ran forward towards the two almost identical Shichibukai. She felt the pain in her side and leg as she moved, but ignored it for the sake of her urgent purpose. Just as they both summoned their strings, growing them from their left hands, and raised the arms to attack, the samurai appeared before them and blocked both their hands with a horizontal slash. The timing was perfect so that her katana would block each of the strings just as they brought their hands down to attack. Their string-entangled arms were pushed back and the two men took a step backwards from the force of the blow.
Using that momentum, Luffy grabbed the soldier and rolled away on the floor, escaping the two Shichibukai. Miyako also used that opportunity to jump backwards and create a safe distance from Doflamingo and his copy. Something told her it was a very bad idea to stay too close to that man. Just as she jumped to the side, a rubber arm stretched beside her with great speed and force as Strawhat used both hands to deliver quick, consecutive punches at Doflamingo.
"Gomu gomu no Jet Gatling!" Even though the captain boy didn't go all out from the beginning, he did step up his game more than he would usually do when only starting to fight. Even he could probably tell that Doflamingo wasn't one to mess with and it was better to take care of the guy as soon as possible. However, the blonde easily blocked his attack with armament haki as one of his shoulders turned pitch black.
Even fighting one Doflamingo was strenuous, but Luffy had to deal with two. Just as he was focusing on the grinning bastard in front of him, an attack came from behind. The other body used his strings to slice at the pirate's back, creating five thin cuts that seeped blood. The string attack pushed the boy forward, propelling him right into the other Doflamingo's fist filled with Busoshoku Haki. It was like slamming his face right into a steel wall with full force. Luffy was shot back, his nose a bloody mess from the impact.
"Luffy-san!" Miyako screamed in worry, and she wasn't the only one. The rest watched the fight with a mixture of shock and confusion as they stared at the strange Doflamingo clone.
"Is this some kind of shadow clone?" Miyako murmured in puzzlement, her thoughts going to the ancient ninja techniques she read about, that only a few people possessed in Wanokuni. However, Doflamingo was no ninja. *It must have something to do with his devil fruit,* she finally concluded.
The Shichibukai, however, ignored all their questions and turned to the former king instead. "King Riku, do you remember that night 10 years ago? When you slashed your people and burned down your peaceful town?"
Miyako blinked in wonder, her gaze traveling from Violet to the said king. The dark haired woman bit her lip and a shadow crossed her eyes, as her eyebrows knit together with sadness and burden of whatever she was thinking about. King Riku had a similar expression, though his pain was masked with anger.
"I still have nightmares every night! So what if I remember!?"
"That night will be nothing compared to the tragedy about to happen now…" Doflamingo's grin widened as he continued to chuckle.
"Fool! What are you planning! That kind of thing must never happen again!" King Riku yelled, desperately trying to stop the Shichibukai even though he knew it was useless. There was nothing he, an old man and a failed king, could do to the paramecia pirate.
Miyako felt her throat go dry and she begun to hold her breath in expectation without even realizing it. What was that man planning? She didn't know much about Dressrosa's history, but she doubted Doflamingo planned anything less than the absolute worst for them.
"Pica! Take the intruders out!" Before Riku could attack him to hopelessly try and stop him, the whole room moved once again.
Because of the current events, Miyako completely forgot about the stone giant that was still in control of the entire castle. "Whoa!" She yelped as she lost her balance, hearing similar screams from her friends all around her. The girl desperately tried to keep her balance, but there was no use. Before she knew it, she was already falling on her behind, carefully clutching her katana in her hands so she wouldn't drop it. Suddenly the floor started to rise higher and higher, before it started to make a shape around them. Miyako looked around in panic, noticing the walls were still surrounding them, rising around them, as if they were in a giant bowl. That rocky bowl started to form further until the walls turned into fingers and they were all being tossed around in a huge, stone hand. The hand easily moved across the palace until they were outside again and it tossed them all out like fragile pieces of paper it had no more use for.
Luffy, Violet, Law, Miyako, Kyros and King Riku were all falling down quickly from the top floor. The samurai could see the blue sky getting further and further away from them as they approached the inevitable ground. Just when she thought it was all over, instead of crushing her body on the hard surface, the girl landed on something soft and bouncy.
"Eh?" Looking down, she noticed what appeared like a large balloon in the color of skin. It took her one more moment, when the balloon started to deflate after everyone landed on it safely, to realize that it wasn't a balloon at all. It was Monkey D. Luffy who inflated his stomach to break everyone's fall.
Miyako sighed in relief and got up, still standing on shaky legs. *I was saved somehow…* Another thought hit her and she looked around in panic, sighing even deeper with relief when she saw the target of her worries not far from there. *Law is safe too.* He was still chained to that ridiculous heart throne and was uncomfortably lying on his back, but at least he was alive and with them again. However, something seemed wrong with him. The girl observed his expression as he blankly stared up at the bright blue sky. He was deathly pale as he stared up with a glassy look of dread in his steel grey eyes. He kept mumbling something like an enchanted person and Miyako had to come closer to understand what he was saying.
She only heard a part of it, but it was enough to make her blood freeze cold in her veins. Perhaps she wouldn't react so perturbed to the words, if not for seeing this side of her captain that she never saw before. The usually collected and seemingly fearless Trafalgar Law now had a clear look of alarm in his eyes.
"It started…the birdcage! He's going to kill everyone in this country before the truth comes out!"
Following his gaze, Miyako glanced up and her eyes remained glued to the sight. Above them, thousands of strings started forming from the sky, falling down around them like vertical shooting stars. They glistened dangerously on sunlight as they kept surrounding the whole island. The name gave the sight perfect justice; the strings shaped a form of a birdcage all around them, preventing any attempt of escape.
I hope the chapter wasn't too short. I try to find a good place to end so these cannon chapters might sometimes be a bit shorter than my usual ones. Still, I hope you enjoyed reading it. ^^ Thank you everyone for always being patient with me and reading my story. It's been a while since I posted, so you had to wait for my responses to your comments; I'm sorry for that. Thank you for such wonderful reviews that you always leave me! If it weren't for you guys to read my story, I would have no one to write it for. :') Hopefully, the next chapter will be out soon.
Mpiag: Hi! Thank you so much for liking it, I hope you enjoy the other chapters as well. Ah, Argentina; the place of steak, tango and football! :D
Guest: Yep, it's rising steadily. ^^ I still can't believe so many people read and review my story at all.
LilyoftheValley: wow, I definitely wouldn't be able to read even my own story is 3 days. XD There will be more moments between them in the future, but right now I have to focus on the cannon story too, so it's a bit harder for them to even have alone time. Yep, only once…for now. ;) Unfortunately, I don't have a set time for updating, cause I just try to write when I have time. :') Thank you for reading and reviewing the story!
Erina: hehe, I'm really glad you like it. Yeah, I'm trying to make their relationship natural and keep them both in character throughout it. It's not always easy… ^^' I guess I find inspiration from everywhere. I'm especially inspired during a boring lecture in class. ;P
Integral16: Hello! :D Oh, Miyako doesn't have a bigger bounty than them (at least not Luffy and Zoro). She didn't even before their new bounties. I don't think their weaker either, it's just that they didn't really have time to show their strength and fight yet. :) Since we already saw their battle in the manga, I don't really want to prolong it too much, but don't worry, the Strawhats will have their time to shine. :D I also thought about her scars when they were in the bathroom, but decided to go another way. Especially since she had a towel around her when not in the water, so they might not have been able to see it. But we'll have to Miyako's scars too. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
pharoah999: Thank you for sticking with my story for so long! :D It would maybe be a bit ooc for him, but if I make some sort of 'One shot special' that it's connected to the main story, it could be done. :D I might do that actually (maybe like a Valentine special o.O). The problem is, I'm usually always busy with school at those holiday-times when people always write specials (like Valentine or Halloween). T_T I'll see what I can do.
sillykar18: Haha, I know what you mean. If I start reading a good book, I just can't stop even when I should be studying instead. :') Thank you for your kind words, sometimes I'm also surprised when I realize it's been 3 years already. I hope you will enjoy the rest of the story as well!
Atiama Amisl: *hands a cookie* Indeed, people picked up on that, nice work! :D
Kingsredcrown: I'm also glad I improved my writing style. I feel like it changes constantly, but sometimes even I don't know if it's for the better. It's really been three years...time sure flies. :) I'm happy you like the story, and take you very much for taking the time to read and review it.
Dokuroskull: lol there's no rush, it won't escape…I'm a slow updater anyway! XD (Sleep is important, after all ^^). Thank you for reading it. Ah, yes, those still happen sometimes when I hurry with my proofreading. ^^'
PippinSqueaks: You guy are amazing, finishing all the chapters in so little time! O.O Thank you! *hugs back* Wow, Mayachi level hug? It sounds like some super hug evolution, like a Pokemon of hugs. XD
Perona: I didn't mean to spoil all other fanfics for you, I'm sorry! XD lol I guess now I'll have to take responsibility and never stop updating this fanfic. :3
Mehhhhhhhhxxd: I love your handle name. So creative. ;D I'll try to post the next one faster, so you don't get withdrawal symptoms. :P
Plsase upDateeee: Sorry for the long wait. I hope it was worth it at east. ^^ I'll try to post the next one sooner.
Faradath: Hi, I'm so very happy that you enjoy the story so much. Thank you for reading and taking the time to post such a detailed review. ^^ So a few answers…:D:
I know some people like romance more while others enjoy adventure/action more (I actually belong to the latter), but I try to find a compromise with a little bit of everything for everyone's enjoyment. ^^ Don't worry, even if they stay together for long (which I agree, is a big chance of that happening), I'll put in a few filler episodes with them outside of cannon. It might even be more fun with the Strawhats included. :D
Yes, somehow the Hearts became a none DF crew, but I kind of like them this way for now. They've gotten so strong just from training and their own power; and I like that fact about them. Also I like the idea of the captain being the only devil fruit user in the group. Makes his authority stick out even more. I might add some new crewmembers later that eat a DF, but for now I would like to wait for Oda to make a complete list of the Hearts crew first. :)
Wow, I love how much you've thought about it, and your ideas are pretty good. That's why I feel really bad that I have to tell you that I do not plan on giving Miyako a devil fruit. :') One of the reasons is that I want her to focus on improving her strength through her swordsmanship. Her dream is to become a great kenshi, and I believe she wants her strength to come from there so she wouldn't be interested in a devil fruit.
Still, you have some interesting ideas, I think you would be good at creating OCs. :D
Thank you for your review and for reading this story. I hope you will like the future chapters as well. ^^
StarmillSKnight: lol If you're excited by that kiss, I'm happy to tell you it gets better later on. ;) And yep, the corset scene is based on the scene from POTC.
Sweetmama59: Hi! yep, I know, I've been trying to make it that Miyako only calls him Isshou-san when she addresses him. I only write Fujitora as the narrator. Though I might have missed one somewhere? I'll check!
Trainer Azurite: I don't know about the fights in the Coliseum specifically yet, but the story won't follow only Miyako through Dressrosa. There will also be scenes with a few others in the Arc. :)
Tsukiyomi Namida: There, there, don't cry! Even though your handle name suggests as much…ah, so it can't be helped then. :3
crossoversfangirl1: It is based on that! You're right, good catch. :)
Taffdog19943: haha, somehow I imagine him being devastated. S: "Why does everyone find love except me!?" Or maybe he'd be really angry and jealous of Law's luck. ;)
Hitoshirezu Ryu: I agree, I think Fujitora would be a samurai who isn't so set on tradition, but rather on doing the 'right thing' (or what one believe is right). So he wouldn't be so dismissive of Miyako like everyone else. I like to think he had a more laid-back attitude when he was younger, too. :D Thanks, I always try to keep it in the One Piece element as much as possible, even if it's a from an original idea in the story. Indeed, the things between Fujitora and Miyako aren't settled yet. They will definitely have to face each other eventually. Ah, thanks, luckily the studies are over for now so back to writing, hehe! :D Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Lucy Jacob: I like to add some little segments of Miyako's past when I can. :) Don't worry, you'll find out everything about her as the stories progresses. Law does know some things about her, but she never told him everything. He knows her parents died and she was brought to master Kuroda's household afterwards, but he doesn't know much about how they died. He also knows that Kuroda died in a revolutionary war, but not why she left town after that. Just like she doesn't know the whole story about him and Cora yet. However, he promised to tell her everything once it's all over with Doflamingo so she is aware that he still didn't tell her everything (he admitted as much in previous chapters), but is waiting for him to tell her when he's ready. I'll put the bit with soldier's house in the story, but there's still a lot of time till then. ^^' Yes, I was! I'm so happy he's alive, I really like him as a character! :D
Red knight 2004: Yeah, it was a bit. ^^' Cause I'm trying to find good places to end the chapters based on the cannon story, so it sometimes ends up shorter than my filler chapters.
lyndeshia finch 9: hehe I feel you. I think I would get tired just reading through this whole story once. XD Thanks for reading and I hope you continue at it!
Bizzy: That's a good question; one I can only guess at. I think he escaped Doflamingo for a while as a kid, but then when he became infamous with his crew, he certainly brought attention to himself and Doflamingo found him again. Knowing he needed his devil fruit power, Doflamingo contacted him to remind him he was a part of the Donquixote pirates and to come work for him again. Law decided it was a good way to infiltrate back into Doflamingo's group so he could monitor his movements, get info, and take him down more easily when he's ready. The whole "Keep your enemies closer" theory. So he pretended to work for Doflamingo. That's at least how it is in my story, though it's only an idea. As for the similar jolly roger, I have a few guesses. Maybe he made it so it would appear like he was an underling of Doflamingo since the symbol is so similar. Or maybe as a inside mocking jock that it's similar even though he's working to bring Doffy down actually. Or maybe it was actually for Corazon and not Doffy, because Cora always said he wanted Law to remember his smiling face.
Apple Bloom: haha Thank you! I'll keep updating then! :D
JustChan: I think Law's ability to take the heart still keeps you somewhat connected to the organ. Which is why it still hurts when someone squeezes it, even when it's not in your body. Well, it's just my take on it. :3 And he couldn't teleport them cause his room would be seen.
Hehe, thanks for still reading it. It takes time to even read all of it to get back up to speed, so I understand. ^^'
jazzie1019: Where, where!? XD
RelflectedShade: Thank you, I'm so glad you like Miyako. Sometimes it is a struggle to depict all the emotions of a scene, so I'm happy when my readers can't feel them. Indeed, there are some hard times in front of Law and Miyako in the future chapters, it will be interesting to write about. Thank you very much for the lovely comment!
Chocogirl24: Thanks! It's a bit easier to guess now that the chapters follow the cannon story again. :P