Ch. 44- Enter Doflamingo
One Piece © Oda
Blizzard, Aika, Kumi, and Jupiter © Me
Back on Punk Hazard, after the Straw Hats left and Tashigi sailed away with the kids, some of the G-5 soldiers are preparing to go back inside the lab, and this time, they are wearing protective suits. It turns out that Caesar's Shinokuni doesn't really work like it was supposed to. The suits were designed by Vegapunk and are actually tougher than anything Caesar could dish out. That's why he told his men to take off their suits when they tried to outrun Shinokuni.
With this knowledge in mind, the G-5 soldiers, as well as Brownbeard, went back inside to rescue their trapped comrades. Every man that was petrified by the gas is now in a coma-like state of paralysis and therefore are still in great danger. It will take at half a day for them to fully breathe in the poison and perish.
"Wohohoho!" Brownbeard laughed. "I appreciate your permission to go back into the lab! I'll never forget your name and you've done for us, Vice-Admiral Smoker! Now, I can save the lives of my faithful men! I promise to come right back and go to prison!"
"It's not like there's any other way off this island," Smoker said. "Now get going."
With that, Brownbeard headed inside the lab, leaving Smoker and the rest of his men out.
"Now, that only leaves one question." said one of the soldiers. "What do we do with these guys?"
It is revealed that they are standing before the headless bodies of Buffalo and Baby-5, the of which is squirming around in her sea stone shackles.
"Are these guys pirates?" asked a G-5 rifleman.
"Dunno," said another. "They sure are creepy, though."
Just then, one of the soldiers spotted something up in the sky.
"Hey, what's that?" he asked. "Are those…flying heads?!"
"What? No way!" his comrade answered, but then he looked up and gasped. "Holy crap! You're right! It is their heads! They're…FLYING BACK!"
Before long, Buffalo and Baby-5's heads returned to their bodies! Not long after…an ominous wind blew, and it is revealed to be none other than…
"DOFLAMINGO?!"
Doflamingo grinned as he stood in the middle of the G-5 soldiers.
"W-why's he here?!" asked a G-5 swordsman, but then, with a simple movement of his neck, Doflamingo knocked out at least half of the G-5 soldiers!
"Th…that was…Conqueror's Haki!" cried one of them.
"What do you think you're doing, Doflamingo?!" another questioned. "Why is one of the Seven Warlords lashing out at the Marines?!"
A pause…but then Doflamingo snickered in a sinister manner.
"No one's here," he said. "No ships…but there must have been a crew of pirates here, just moments ago. So tell me…where are they?"
"How dare you attack our comrades, you bastard!" shouted one of the G-5 soldiers before they aimed their rifles at Doflamingo.
"No! DON'T!" Smoker shouted.
"Smoker…!" Doflamingo hissed, sticking his tongue out in a sick manner. Then…he raised his hands, and what looked strings formed from his fingers.
"Law, I can understand," he said, "but Straw Hat's just a regular run-of-the-mill pirate!"
Then, with one swiping motion of his hand…Doflamingo cut up the G-5 soldiers with his strings!
"AAAAAAAAAAUGGH!" they screamed in pain.
"You let them go, didn't you?!" Doflamingo questioned. "So where are they?! Huh?!"
He narrowly dodged one of Smoker's flying fists.
"WHICH DIRECTION DID THOSE FUCKING KIDS GO?!" Doflamingo questioned.
Smoker glared at the Heavenly Demon as he remembered what Law said about heading to a place called Green Bit.
"I wouldn't know…Joker," Smoker said, causing Doflamingo to gasp. "I carelessly let them slip away. I'll have a lot to answer for to Commander Vergo after this one."
Upon hearing this…Doflamingo growled in anger.
"YOU KNOW HE'S DEAD, MOTHERFUCKER!" he roared. "I'm starting to get the sense…THAT YOU KNOW TOO DAMN MUCH!"
Then, Doflamingo raised his hand, and the G-5 soldiers gasped.
"NO!" they cried. "VICE-ADMIRAL SMOKEY!"
SLASH! Smoker's cigars flew into the air…followed by a spray of blood.
XXX
Meanwhile, the Straw Hats are sailing through the waters of the New World, when suddenly, it looked like the sea had slanted, slightly.
"AAAAH!" Usopp cried.
"Whoa!" Aika exclaimed. "What's happening?!"
"Keep an eye out for reefs!" Nami instructed.
"Hey, is it me, or does the sea look like a hillside?" Luffy asked. "The ship's moving crazy fast!"
"It's a Sea Slope," Law said. "You see them all the time in the New World."
"NOW YOU TELL US!" Usopp shouted.
"Brook, first of all, it's not a lamb," Franky said. "It's called the Mini Merry. Second of all, you're the 8th person to ask me that question. Remember how there was that waterway alongside the lab? I just took the Sunny back up that passage to the sea. Then, once I was out, I circled around to where we first landed to pick it up."
"I see," Brook said, sipping a cup of tea. "So our sweet Little Lamb- err, Mini Merry is safe and sound after all. Jolly good! Yohohoho!"
Aika is sitting on the deck with Kumi, who is running around, panting happily.
"Aika! Check out this grass!" Kumi said. "It feels so real!"
"Uh-huh…yeah," Aika mumbled.
"Hey, Nami!" Luffy called. "Where are we headed, again?"
"Someplace called Dressrosa," Nami answered. "Traffy told us to ignore the middle needle and to take detours rather than follow a straight path."
"D-Dressrosa?!" Kin'emon questioned.
"You know that place?" Luffy asked.
"Th-that is where we…where I wish to go!" Kin'emon answered. "Do you have business there, as well?!"
"I guess so," Luffy said. "Hey, Traffy! Who were talking to just now, anyways?"
"Doflamingo," Law answered.
"DOFLAMINGO?!" Usopp repeated. "YOU MEAN FROM THE SEVEN WARLORDS?! ISN'T HE, LIKE, THE MOST DANGEROUS GUY TO MESS WITH?!"
"The plan's already in motion," Law said.
"Okay, can someone PLEASE let me in on what's going on?!" Zoro questioned. "I'm really confused!"
"No surprise," Sanji muttered.
"Shut up!" Zoro barked. "You don't even know, either!"
"Oh, yeah!" Luffy said. "I guess now's a good time to explain the plan! Gather 'round, everybody!"
Later, Luffy explained the plan to everyone.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" Usopp, Brook, and Chopper questioned. "YOU MEAN WE'RE TRYING TO TAKE DOWN ONE OF THE FOUR EMPERORS?!"
"An Emperor, huh?" Zoro asked before he smirked. "I like it."
"WELL YOU SHOULDN'T!" Usopp shouted. "H-hang on, hang on! Everyone, just settle down!"
"You're the one who's panicking!" Sanji said.
"Can you explain this alliance to those who don't know about it?!" Usopp asked.
"Sure!" Luffy said as he put a hand on Law's shoulder. "Traffy's pirate crew and us are in alliance, now! So let's all get along! Shishishi!"
Blizzard and Jupiter growled viciously at each other.
"Any objections?!" Usopp asked before he raised his hand.
"Me!" Nami said.
"Me!" Chopper added, holding up both hooves.
"Will our objections make any difference?" Brook asked.
"Luffy already made the decision, didn't he?" Sanji asked before he walked up to Law. "A word to the wise: Luffy's definition of an alliance is probably a it different from yours."
"So I've been told," Law muttered.
"I guess that explains why Luffy was going on about abduction and stuff," Sanji said as he turned to see Caesar, who is being bandaged up by Chopper. "It didn't seem like his style. I was afraid you wanted me to cook up this weird-looking sheep guy, but even for a world-class chef like myself, there's only so much I can do."
"Shulololo…!" Caesar snickered. "You foolish brats will never get away with this madness. Some of the most powerful men in the world will be after you! Soon, you will rue your own ignorance…BEFORE YOU ALL DIE!"
BAM! Sanji kicked Caesar in the face.
"Sanji! I was treating him!" Chopper shouted.
"…Why?" Aika asked. "Isn't he a bad man?"
"Yeah, Chopper," Blizzard agreed. "You're a little too nice, sometimes."
"That's not what you said when I treated Z!" Chopper said.
"That was BEFORE we knew he was an enemy, Chopper," Blizzard rebuked.
"Oh," Chopper said.
"So…why did we have to kidnap this guy again?" Luffy asked.
"I asked you to kidnap Caesar in Punk Hazard," Law began, "while I took care of the equipment that made the chemical known as S.A.D. In the New World, most of the world's greatest pirates hold a territory guards by countless subordinates, over which they rule like an enormous criminal syndicate. Matters happen on a larger scale than anything you've seen until now! Tackling them with a single crew is pointless. You'll never even catch so much as glimpse of their captains!"
By this time, Zoro seemed to be listening in while Brook had fallen asleep.
"Having said that, this is still the underground," Law said. "All their necessary deals are conducted in secret so as to avoid Marine attention, and the most trusted and powerful of these men is Doflamingo, who is known by his underground alias as Joker, and Joker's largest client at the moment is Kaido, King of the Beasts, an Emperor."
"WHA…?!" Kin'emon questioned, and Momonosuke turned into his dragon form.
"What's wrong?" Zoro asked.
"Err…nothing!" Kin'emon replied. "Please, continue!"
But then, he looked at Momonosuke and screamed.
"WHAT IS THIS DRAGON DOING HERE?!" Kin'emon questioned. "WHERE IS MOMONOSUKE?!"
"You're looking at him," Luffy said.
"HUH?!" Kin'emon questioned. "…Oh…oh, yes, of course! Yes…yes, I see now!"
"Can I please continue?!" Law asked.
"Go ahead, Traffy," Luffy said.
"What we're trying to do is take down Kaido," Law said. "That means the key to victory will be how much we can minimize his strength. What Kaido is buying from Joker is great quantities of fruit."
"Fruit?" Nami repeated.
"A man-made Zoan-Type Devil Fruit called SMILE," Law said. "In fact, it's the same fruit that transformed Aika here."
"Yeah!" Aika agreed. "The fruit I ate was different! It was bright red, but it had big yellow spots on it instead of the swirls!"
"A man-made Devil Fruit?!" Usopp questioned. "That means if you could create Devil Fruits, people with powers would be popping up all over the place!"
"Exactly," Law said while Luffy seemed intrigued by this thought. "Apparently, there are inherent risks in the man-made Devil Fruit, but as of this moment, Kaido has at least 500 people his crew with the Devil Fruit powers as a result of SMILE."
"ANYONE WANNA QUIT?!" Usopp asked.
"ME!" Nami and Chopper cried.
"Oh, shut up, you three!" Zoro said.
"But now, that fruit has been taken out of the equation," Law said.
"Yohohoho! How interesting!" Brook said.
"So Caesar was the guy who was making those fruits?" Sanji asked.
"You were making the foundation for those Devil Fruits?!" Chopper asked. "Wow! That S.A.D. stuff is amazing!"
"Shulolololo!" Caesar laughed, sheepishly.
"DON'T COMPLIMENT HIM!" Usopp shouted. "HE'S THE ROOT OF EVIL!"
"It's just an application of bloodline elements," Law began, "which were first discovered by Vegapunk."
"Ah," Sanji said. "I see."
"So Vegapunk's the real genius," Chopper said, walking away.
"SHUT YOUR MOUTHS!" Caesar shouted. "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU CREATE THAT STUFF, YOU CRETINS!"
WHAM! Sanji kicked him in the face, once again!
"Ow…!" Caesar groaned.
"Joker's out of the picture, now," Law said while Luffy let out a bored yawn. "It's time for phase 2 of our plan. There's a SMILE production factory in Dressrosa, somewhere."
"Ah, I get ya," Franky said. "So what you're saying is we gotta find it and destroy it, right?"
"Exactly," Law said. "However, the enemy is well connected, and therefore we can't get sloppy."
"Dressrosa, huh?" Luffy repeated. "Hey, Kin. You said wanted to go there, too, right?"
"Indeed!" Kin'emon answered as he brandished one of his blades. "One of my dearest comrades is being held there!"
XXX
Concurrently, back on Punk Hazard…
"No! Stop it! You're gonna kill Smokey!"
"Yeah, and if he dies, who will lead our rabblerousing unit?!"
Smoker lied on the ground, covered in large, deep, bloody, gashes and breathing heavily.
"Oh, don't you worry," Doflamingo reassured. "As soon as I'm done with this bastard, I'll kill the rest of you, too! There's no telling who might have learned what, since I can't read minds. Same goes for Law and Straw Hat! I'll find them before the day's through!"
But then, just when Doflamingo was about to deliver the finishing blow…he felt a chill suddenly go down his spine.
"Oops…pardon me, buddy. Would you mind getting off him?"
The G-5 gasped in shock, and Doflamingo looked back to see none other than…Former Marine Admiral Aokiji…but these days, he goes by his real name: Kuzan.
"You see…he's an old friend of mine," Kuzan said, his frosty breath escaping his lips.
TO BE CONTINUED…
BAM! Kuzan's here!
Only one chapter left...CAN I DO IT~?!
We'll see.
Review, please!