Chaos in Dressrosa

Part Six

Neo gritted her teeth and tightened her hold on Law's sword as she flew up higher into the air. Her mind was so focused on getting to Rebecca she didn't even notice, once again, how out of character she was being. All she knew was she had to get up to the fourth level. She knew she didn't know Rebecca very well, but that didn't matter. In those few short minutes that she did meet with Rebecca, and through what the prisoners of the coliseum had said about her, she knew she shared a lot of similarities with the young pink haired girl. She also knew that Rebecca was a normal human fighter. Rebecca didn't have a devil fruit or above human skills like Sanji and Zoro to protect herself. And Doflamingo's top executives were all devil fruit users. All Rebecca had was observation haki to help her. She knew she had to get to her friend.

She connected to the plateau, feeling out how far she had to go before reaching the top. She was already halfway there in just a few seconds. She knew she needed to hurry in case her magic decided to fail her again. She didn't want to fall from the sky here. Law wouldn't be happy with her if she did. So she picked up on her wind speed as much as she could before her stomach took a violent twist on her. She paused. Hovering in the air, she covered her mouth with her hand and gagged. She really hoped she didn't get sick here. It would not be a pleasant thing for whoever might be below her at the moment. If she did get sick she hoped it would land on an enemy instead of an ally. But she wouldn't allow herself to get sick. Slowly breathing in air, she managed to settle her stomach and pushed forward to the top of the plateau.

Neo increased her wind speed and flew over the top of the fourth level edge. She glanced down at the yellow sunflowers that nearly covered the entire level. Quickly and easily she spotted the tall man with the ripple ripple fruit. He easily towered over the sunflowers and was walking through the field towards something. She looked ahead of the man to find there was someone else running in the tall flowers. Rebecca. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when Diamante raised his sword and swung it at Rebecca. His sword swipe created a strong enough gale to knock Rebecca off her feet. She shifted her winds to gather around Rebecca as the young girl went flying backwards.

"What the heck?!" Diamante cursed when Rebecca landed safely on the ground.

"Don't you touch her!" Neo cried out. She flew forward towards the tall man. With Law's sword at the ready, she swiped it at Diamante.

Diamante looked up just in time to see the light glinting off the blade coming right at him. He raised his own sword, blocking the attack with ease. He pushed back on the sword before looking at the only person he knew it could be. "Neo! What are you doing here?! I thought Law kept you on a short leash!"

"I'm here to stop you from hurting Rebecca! And I'm not Law's dog!" Neo said. She pushed back against his sword. Knowing this man was strong than she was, she used her winds to assist her. She managed to push him back a few steps before slicing Law's sword at her opponent again. Angry clanks of the swords rang out in the air with each hit they made. The noise made her head twitch in annoyance. But she knew this pain was nothing to the pain Rebecca would feel if she let Diamante get passed her.

"Neo!" Rebecca cried. She tried to move forward, but Neo's winds wouldn't let her. "What are you doing?!"

"Just stay there, Rebecca!" Neo said. "I won't let him hurt you!"

"Big talk for such a little girl. I see Law has done quite a number on you. Or perhaps it wasn't Law that's got you to act like this," Diamante said while he ran his eyes over her intense glare, her body, and then the sword she was holding. He felt the dark energy that a cursed sword gives off. "Hm… that's a cursed sword. You shouldn't be able to wield it at all. Well, I suppose you might be able to considering you're not human. Still, I'd think that Law would be too far protective of you to let you touch such a sword. But that's not really the important thing here. What's important is how well you know how to use that thing. I'm fairly sure that Law has trained you himself in how to use it. And he's not the type of man who'd let his sweet little lover go untrained, especially when facing an opponent like me. Does he even know you're here?"

"He's trained me well enough," Neo said. She pulled back the sword and sliced at Diamante a couple times. Still hovering in the air with her wind crystals, she pushed back against him, testing his strength despite knowing already that he was far stronger than she was physically and was smarter. She knew her usual tricks of using her opponent's strength to her advantage wouldn't work on a man like Diamante. He was far to smart and cunning to fall for something like that. So she combined her crystals with Law's sword. Placing her fire crystals near the blade, she engulfed it and swung at Diamante.

Diamante chuckled and dodged her attack. "Now that's cheating, Trafalgar Neo."

Neo scoffed. "Says the one who has a devil fruit and was going to fight someone who doesn't have one. My crystals are my source of power. They're not that much different from devil fruits."

"I suppose you're correct," Diamante said. He looked passed Neo at Rebecca before bringing his eyes back to Neo. "But it doesn't matter. I have my orders. And they do not include fighting you."

Neo growled when Diamante jumped passed her and went right for Rebecca again. She gritted her teeth in frustration. Slipping into the wind stream, she flew herself between Diamante and Rebecca. Their swords clashed sending vibrations through Neo's arms and head. "I won't let you hurt he-Ah!"

Diamante chuckled when Neo screamed out in pain. He rested his sword on his shoulder as he watched her drop to the ground. "I see you're having some trouble there."

"Neo! Neo, what's wrong?! Did he hit you?!" Rebecca asked, kneeling down beside Neo when the wind and crystals around her faded away. She scanned her eyes over Neo, looking for signs of blood but didn't find any. She started to reach for her friend but stopped when Neo flinched away from her. "Are you hurt?!"

"N-no… I'm fine," Neo said through her pants. She tried to push herself off the ground but winced at the headache pounding in her head and fell back down.

"But you're panting so hard. And you're clearly in pain," Rebecca said. "Have you been fighting a lot? You should rest. I can handle him."

"No," Neo said. She forced herself to her feet and lifted Law's sword towards Diamante. Her arms shook from being tired causing the sword and her body to feel heavier than it normally did as her vision blurred and swayed. She wanted to summon her solar crystal, but didn't since it wasn't doing her much good. "I can't let you fight him. I know you don't like fighting. He's a lot stronger than you too."

"But how are you going to fight him if you can barely move?" Rebecca asked.

"I'll be fine. I don't need my full strength to face him," Neo hissed. "I can kill him all on my own."

"Neo?" Rebecca recoiled a bit from Neo. She was surprised at the darkness she felt coming from the timid young woman she had met earlier that day. She knew she hasn't known Neo for very long, but she could tell this wasn't Neo's normal behavior. "Are you sure you're all right? You seem a bit different from before."

"I'm fine," Neo said, almost snapped. "Do you still have the key?"

"Yeah. I still have it," Rebecca said.

"Good. Law and Luffy are on their way up here now," Neo said. She connected herself with Law for a split second before cutting off the connection again. She could feel he and Luffy were already heading up here. She wasn't sure how thought. Maybe Robin created limbs as makeshift stairs for them? She pushed it from her mind. As long as they got up here, she didn't care how it happened. "They should be here soon. Don't lose it."

"I won't," Rebecca said with a nod.

"And stay right where you are. I can keep him away from you, but I need you to stay in one place. Can you do that for me?" Neo asked making sure to keep her voice low and her lips barely moving so Diamante couldn't tell what she was planning.

"Yeah. I can do that," Rebecca said. "Why?"

"You'll see," Neo said. Focusing her attention on Diamante, she positioned some of her crystals around Rebecca. Keeping her winds around her friend and engulfing her other crystals just in case she needed them to attack.

"Huh?" Rebecca looked at the crystals that surrounded her. There was ten of each element creating a wall around her. The wind Neo created stayed close to her body while the fire, earth, and water crystals remained on the outside of the wind, lit up with their respective elements. She looked over at her blue haired friend. What is she doing? She can't possible keep these all of these crystals around me like this and fight Diamante head on. No one has that much control over their powers. I know she was keeping that wall of wind around me before, but this has to be too much for her. No one can really multitask like this and actually survive a fight with an opponent like Diamante.

"Interesting," Diamante said. He looked at the crystals and winds around Rebecca, carefully studying them then Neo. "Do you really think you can protect her with your crystals while fighting with me?"

"Let's find out," Neo said with a smirk. Tightening her grip on Law's sword she flew forward. She swung the sword at Diamante knowing he would try to block it with his own. Her smirk grew when he did what she thought and the look on his face was clear that he thought he would have the upper hand on her. What he didn't count on was how well Law did train her and how well she could handle multitasking in a fight. Just before their swords could clash, she lit up Law's sword with her fire crystals.

Diamante cursed. He leaped back away from the blade only to have sunflowers wrap around his body and limbs. "What the heck?!"

Neo lifted him up in the air. Jerking him downward, she slammed his body into the ground, cracking it. "Now, what was that you asked about me? About being able to protect Rebecca and fight you at the same time?"

"Don't get cocky, you little brat!" Diamante said. He ripped the sunflowers off him and tossed them aside. He stood up and glared at Neo. "I'll kill you if you do!"

"I thought you weren't allow to fight me," Neo said.

Diamante seethed. At that point in time he really did want to fight Neo and to kill her. But he knew he couldn't. He knew he would remand loyal to his master. "Shut up, brat! I might be under orders to not fight you, but this is a war! And in wars a lot of accidents happen!"

"So you're going to fight me then?" Neo taunted.

Diamante gritted his teeth. What the heck am I suppose to do? She's really starting to tick me off. She's not supposed to be like this. I guess whatever that man is doing to her is really effecting her personality. I have no clue how I'm going to get passed her. I need to kill Rebecca. But if Neo keeps herself between that little witch and me there's no way I can kill her. I might have to fight Neo after all. And if I end up hurting her… well, like I said, this is a war. Accidents do happen. Dofy might get upset, but he'll understand it was necessary.

"Well? Mr. Diamond Seat Holder?" Neo asked. "What's it going to be?"

"Vipera Glaive!" Diamante shouted.

Neo readied for the attack but was taken a bit by surprise when the sword skirted around her and headed for Rebecca. She had forgotten that he could do that. But was prepared for it nonetheless. She increased her winds around Rebecca and lifted a rock up out of the ground. The sword smashed into the rock and was slowed down by it but was stopped by the increasing winds. She charged at Diamante as his sword shrunk back to its normal size. She clashed swords with him before striking out with her elements. She gritted her teeth when her magic took a sharp dip that left her with only half her strength. She knew it would still be enough to handle Diamante, but she needed to move fast. If her magic took a dip just now then it was an almost hundred percent guarantee that she would lose it again any second.

"Looks like you're still having some trouble there," Diamante said when he noticed the wind speed was cut in half.

"It's more than enough to take care of you!" Neo shouted. She wrapped her winds around him, lifting him in the air and tossing him around like a helpless ragdoll. She pulled out the rocks she had gathered earlier and shot them at him, pelting him in midair.

"Stop that!" Diamante hissed. "Put me down and fight me properly!"

"This is fighting properly! These are my abilities!" Neo shot back. She lifted more rocks up out of the ground and fired them at him. Smiling at the bruises she knew would form there in a few minutes. "And don't blame me for this! You're the one who started it all! You and your stupid master! You should have known better than to fight with someone who commands nature! You're just a pathetically weak human! You can't stop me!"

Diamante growled and cursed under his breath as he continued to be flung around, slammed into the ground, pelted with rocks, splashed with water both hot and cold. She's right. I don't really have anything that can counter her attacks. And she's not even at full strength right now. I could really lose this fight. How powerful is she really? What would she be capable of if she held an aggressive nature like Dofy? Spinning around, he caught a glimpse of movement from the hole in the palace wall. Looking again when he spun in the right direction, he saw Cethin. The man held a grin on his face, clearly in enjoyment from the predicament Diamante was in. What does Dofy see in that man? Who the heck is he anyway? What exactly is he doing to her? Whatever it is, he better help me here. If he doesn't I'm going to make him pay for this later.

"Now! Stay away from-Ah!" Neo charged forward again to make a final strike against Diamante. A sharp pain stabbed into her head stopping her. She dropped Law's sword and grabbed her head. She dropped to the ground, curling up into a ball with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Neo!" Rebecca cried. When the crystals around her faded, she bolted over to Neo. Kneeling down, she inspected her friend. She placed her hand on Neo's shoulder. She felt her flinch at her touch and remembered how Neo pulled away from her before. She pushed it aside for now. She could ask Neo about that later. "Neo, what's wrong? What's happening?"

"Headache… won't stop," Neo said through the pain. "Can't fight… anymore… I'm sorry."

"It's all right, Neo. I can fight if you can't. You just stay here and rest," Rebecca said. She stood up and headed for Diamante. "I'm the one he wants anyway."

"N-no." Neo pushed up on her arms. Her vision blurred and split. She watched Rebecca walk towards the enemy until her disrupted vision caused her stomach to lurch. She laid back down on the ground. "Law… please get here soon."

Cethin sighed as he watched Diamante get thrown around by Neo. He shook his head before reaching into his pocket. He pulled out the medallion and held it up. He stroked his thumb over the green tubing. It reacted to his touch and started glowing brighter. His lips curled into a grin when he heard Neo scream out in pain. "I guess it's really a good thing that Doflamingo called me here when he did. They never would be able to handle her if it wasn't for me."

With a dark chuckle, Cethin tucked the precious medallion back into his pocket. He turned and headed back into the palace. His heart thumping in anticipation. The time for him to make his move was finally coming closer. He couldn't wait. He wanted her so badly. He wanted to know what she was really capable of. And soon he would know.

Law let off an unhealthy string of curses as he watched Neo disappeared from his view. His heart was pounding so hard in both his chest and head he thought he was going to be sick. Or maybe it was just Neo's pregnancy symptoms passing to him. No. He knew that wasn't true, not completely anyway. She was feeling a bit nauseous as she ascended towards the next level, but most of his feelings were his own. He was terrified for her and their baby's safety. He didn't know who exactly was waiting on the fourth level, but he knew who wanted her. He knew he couldn't sit around here any longer. He had to get up to that level and get the key to his cuffs so he could finally be able to protect her and their child. He forced himself to look down from the sky and over to the fight. Luffy and the others were still trying to take down the tin toys. It was going to take them forever at this rate. Nothing they did worked to stop them. The toys just kept pulling themselves back together. And now Gladius was leading them. They had to go. Now. "Hey, Straw Hat, just get rid of them and let's get going! Neo's already up there! She'll be completely defenseless if her magic goes out again! You're taking far too much time here!"

"Hey, you! Stop talking to Mr. Luffy like that! He'll go rescue his love in due time!" Bartolomeo snapped.

"Will you shut the heck up about that?! Neo is my love! Not Straw Hat's!" Law hissed. "You're just misinterpreting what you saw back in the coliseum! They're just friends! Nothing more!"

"Wait! I got it! I know how Mr. Luffy can get to his love!" Bartolomeo said, ignoring Law's outburst. "Barrier-bility: Stairs!"

Law growled to himself at this strange green haired man who insists on calling Neo Luffy's love. He started to imagine hundreds of ways to torture this moron but stopped when the man's barrier shape shifted into stairs going up to the next level. He eyed the stairs, the way that would get him up to the next level and back with Neo. "Well, at least he has some use besides being stupid."

"Huh?! That's so cool! You just saved us a lot of trouble and time!" Luffy said. He ran over to the bottom of the stairs and stared up at them. "We can get to the top this way!"

"Please use it, Mr. Luffy!" Bartolomeo gushed while facing the opposite way from Luffy and wiggling his body. "Use it and go save your precious love!"

"How many times do I have to say it?! Neo is NOT Straw Hat's love! She's mine! You incompetent buffoon!" Law growled.

"Why are you facing the other way?" Cavendish asked. "Straw Hat's behind you, idiot."

"Thank you, Rooster!" Luffy said.

"Hey! Don't ignore me! Say something, Straw Hat! Put him in his place! Tell him Neo's not your love!" Law demanded.

"Come on, Tra!" Luffy ran over to Law and hosted him back upon his shoulder.

"Will you stop ignoring me too?! Tell that guy that Neo's not your love!" Law said again. He lifted up on Luffy's shoulder and glared at the younger captain. "Tell him now!"

"What are you talking about? She's my friend! Of course I love her," Luffy said with a smile.

"Yes! Mr. Luffy loves her!" Bartolomeo gushed with stars in his eyes. "I knew it!"

"Loving her as a friend isn't the same as being in love with her!" Law said. "And you stop calling Neo Straw Hat's love!"

"What are you talking about? Of course it's the same," Luffy said.

"No! It! Is! Not!" Law stressed. He couldn't believe this was happening. Neo was his love, not Luffy's. He was not going to let this stand. No one, but for himself, ever called Neo their love. That was something reserved only for him. Their crew didn't even call her that. "Will you just tell him that she's not your lover?!"

"We'll deal with that later. We've got to get up those stairs," Luffy said.

"Fine. Let's just go already," Law said in defeat. "But we're clearing this mess up later. Do you understand me, Straw Hat?!"

"Yeah, sure! Whatever!" Luffy said, uncaring. "We can go straight to the fourth level this way! Here we go, Tra!"

"Just go!" Law said just before Luffy bolted for the stairs.

"Here we come, Neo!" Luffy said. He jumped on the stairs. His sandals slapped against the barrier stairs as he ran up them. He gasped when two tin toys jumped up to the stairs to take a bite out of his flesh. He didn't know if he had time to defend himself and Law. But before he could think much on it, the toys were sliced in half. Kyros then appeared ahead of him on the stairs. "Soldier!"

"I'm going to go ahead!" Kyros said. "I will defend Neo as well! Do not worry about her!"

"Hey! Wait, Soldier!" Luffy called. Hearing a sword slice through tin again, he looked over his shoulder. Cavendish was on the stairs having just sliced up another toy. "Cabbage!"

"I'll distract and keep them here! Get to the next level, Straw Hat!" Cavendish said. "My beloved horse was harmed on this level! I can't go any farther without vengeance against those jerks! So go!"

Law continued to hang helplessly over Luffy's shoulder as the younger captain growled while running up the stairs. He was mentally cursing, hoping, wishing, and praying that Neo's magic didn't fade out again, at least not until he got there. As long as she had her magic he knew she would be able to handle Doflamingo's executives just fine. He also knew that she would be able to hold her own against Doflamingo if she needed too, even if it was only for a few moments. But he didn't think Doflamingo would be up there with her at the moment. He figured the man would wait and do whatever it was he was planning once they got to the top of the plateau, to the palace for the final battle.

He was so lost in thought about getting to Neo that he forgot about the battle that was happening just below them until explosions went off right next to them. He turned his eyes to see the green haired man falling from the sky. He quickly came to the conclusion that the green haired man blocked an attack from Gladius since Gladius was the only one who could set off bombs like that.

"I'm coming now! Wait for me, Mingo!" Luffy growled, pulling Law's attention away from the falling green haired man.

Neo… please, whatever's happening to you, please just be careful, Law thought.

Neo gritted her teeth in disgust. She hated that she had to leave Rebecca to fight that monster on her own. She cringed, both from her headache and from not being able to help Rebecca fight Diamante, as she sat there and listened to the two clashing swords. Suddenly the fighting stopped. She looked up, wondering what happened. She thought about what all Law told her about Diamante. Diamante was a cruel man. She knew he wouldn't just kill Rebecca right off. He'd toy with her for a while. And that's probably what he was doing right now. He was probably taunting her with something. She knew she couldn't just sit there any longer. She forced herself to her feet and stumbled towards the sunflowers. Running towards the area she saw Diamante in, she shouted for her friend. "Rebecca! What ever he's saying, don't listen! He's only trying to get you angry! Get away from him!"

Neo felt her heart clench when she heard Rebecca's scream echoing through the air. Pushing herself forward, she ran toward the scream ultimately finding Rebecca lying on the ground with blood on her cloak and skin. She rushed over. Placing herself between Rebecca and Diamante. Her entire body trembled as she held out Law's sword. "Stay away!"

"Really, Neo? You can barely stand. What chance do you think you have now against me?" Diamante asked. "Just count your lucky stars that I'm not allowed to kill you. If I were, you'd die right here with that tramp. I'm putting an end to her right now."

What do I do? I can't fight him with my sword skills alone. Law! Luffy! Where are you?! Neo held Law's sword up. Knowing it wouldn't do her much good, she still felt protected with it. She knew he and Luffy would be here soon. She knew they weren't going to die here.

"Now get out of my way!" Diamante said. He kicked his leg at Neo, striking her in the left shoulder and sending her flying six feet. "I'm loyal to Dofy's orders, but accidents happen! If you get in my way again I can't guarantee your safety!"

Neo cringed as she felt her body collide with the ground. When she stopped rolling, she laid there for a moment. Grass and dirt swirled around her nose before falling still. She was glad that Law wasn't feeling this, but also wondering why she was just being brushed a side. Why does he refuse to fight me like that? I know I'm not much of a challenge for him but I'm still his enemy. He shouldn't be running from me. So why is he? Why did Doflamingo tell him to not fight me? What does Doflamingo want with me? He's had plenty of times to take me away from Law, but hasn't.

"But wait…" Diamante reached for his belt. Pulling out a gun, he aimed it at Rebecca. "You prefer the gun, don't you? Because this is how Scarlet was killed."

"Who?" Neo couldn't help but ask.

"My mother," Rebecca said. "He's the one who killed her."

"What?!" Neo gasped. She pushed herself onto her arms. "Stop it, Diamante! Leave her alone! She hasn't done anything to you!"

Diamante just continued to grin. He slowly pulled back on the trigger.

Neo knew she needed to get up. She needed to do something.

"Help me, Soldier!" Rebecca's cry pierced through her body and soul giving her the strength to force herself to her feet. She grabbed hold of the hilt of Law's sword with both of her hands.

Neo ran forward a couple steps but stopped when she heard Kyros scream, "Rebecca!"

"Kyros!" Neo said, watching as the man rushed forward and easily sliced Diamante down.

"You're… Kyros!" Diamante said, his body falling backwards from the hit.

"I won't let you take another member of my family away from me!" Kyros said.

"Kyros?" Neo asked.

"It's all right, Lady Neo. Thank you for protecting my child. I'll take it from here," Kyros said. "You can rest easy. The others will be up here soon."

Neo sighed. Feeling relief that someone else was here to fight, she dropped back down to the ground. "All right. That's fine with me." She sat quietly as Kyros addressed his daughter as her real father for the first time in years.

"I'm sorry, Rebecca. As a toy without a future, all I could teach you was how to fight. Even though I knew you were kindhearted by nature just like your mother. But that ends today," Kyros said.

"What?" Rebecca asked.

Neo looked at Rebecca, noticing her tears, then looked back at Kyros. She felt like crying herself. The love this man had for his daughter made her wonder about her own father. Something she's wondered about before. What would he had been like if he lived? What kind of relationship would she have had with him? Would they have gotten along? Or would they fight all the time? She knew she never would know the answers to her questions. She also knew that, no matter how much it hurt to think about it, she probably never would have met Law if her parents didn't sacrifice themselves to save her.

"You don't have to fight anymore," Kyros said, finally turning to his daughter.

Neo couldn't hold back her tears anymore. They streamed down her cheeks freely. She wanted this fight to be over with so Rebecca had a chance at actually knowing her dad, something that she never would get to do. She climbed back to her feet with the intention of going over to Rebecca but paused when Diamante spoke.

"What do you mean by that, Kyros?" Diamante asked. He pushed himself up out of the flowers.

"It means that today I'll be settling my score with you all!" Kyros replied.

"Then that means it's the end of all of you!" Diamante shot back.

"Kyros!" Neo said.

"Lady Neo, please, stay with Rebecca! Allow me to protect you two from this point on!" Kyros said.

"Okay!" Neo nodded. She ran over to Rebecca. Standing beside her friend, she held Law's sword up in case she had to fight after all. She watched as the two men stared each other down before they finally charged forward and started clashing their swords.

"Rebecca!"

"Huh?" Neo said. She and Rebecca turned to the edge of the plateau when they heard Luffy's voice. Rebecca got up and they ran over to the edge at the same time.

"Is this… Huh?" Rebecca said.

"Luffy!" Neo smiled when she saw her friend running up the stairs.

"Neo! Rebecca!" Luffy said.

"Lucy!" Rebecca said.

"Rebecca! The key!" Luffy said.

"Lucy! This is great! We both made it!" Rebecca said.

"Law! Luffy!" Neo said just before a tin toy jumped into her view. She gasped when it tried to take a bite out of Luffy.

Luffy jumped just in time to keep from getting eaten. He kicked off the toy's head, launching himself and Law into the air. "The key! Give it to me now!"

"Here it is!" Rebecca said, holding up the key. She and Neo ran back a bit on the plateau.

"Law! The toy!" Neo cried out when she saw the toy leaping after him and Luffy.

"Hurry up, Straw Hat!" Law said, eyeing the toy coming at them again.

"Rebecca!" Luffy said as he shot out his hand for the key.

Neo felt a huge amount of relief when Luffy grabbed Law's freedom from Rebecca's hand. But she still had his sword. She knew he would need it to fight properly. Quickly, she untied the sheath from her back. She slid the sword back into its cover then aimed it at Law and Luffy. Carefully aiming into the toy's mouth as he approached her lover and friend, she pulled back and launched the sword into the air as hard as she could. "Law! Your sword!"

Neo and Rebecca watched as Law's sword and Luffy's hand made it inside the toy just before it closed its mouth around them. Neo watched the toy until something clanking against the ground pulled her attention away. She looked over to see a sea prism stone cuffs and chain lying on the ground. Her heart jumped. Her eyes shot back to the toy just before Law's Room filled the air. Her lips curled back into a smile. "Law!"

"Room! Shambles!" The toy divided into several parts before being flung over the side of the plateau.

"Finally, we caught up with him!" Luffy said after he and Law landed on the ground.

"Law! You're finally free!" Neo said, running over to him. "I'm so glad that you're-"

"Neo!" Law snapped harshly at her causing her to halt right in front of him in shock. "Don't you ever, ever take off from me like that again! Do you hear me?! What the heck were you thinking?! You know your magic isn't working properly right now! You could have gotten us and our chi-you could have gotten us killed!"

Neo flinched at his words. She was shocked at him yelling at her like that. She was also shocked at how she did take off on him. But mostly, she was shocked at him yelling at her. Tears swelled up in her eyes. She dropped her gaze from him. "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I wasn't trying to… I didn't mean to…"

Law sighed. His heart broke from the tears he caused her. He didn't mean to make her cry. He was just so worried about her that he let his emotions get the better of him despite knowing his actions and words were justified. He placed his hand behind her head and pulled her to his chest. Burying his nose into her hair, taking in her sweet and intoxicating scent. He lowered his voice so only she could hear him. "I'm sorry, love. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. I'm just worried about you. You know that your magic isn't working properly right now. It scared me when you took off like that. I had no clue what was happening to you up here."

"I-I'm sorry, Law. I didn't mean to take off like that. I don't know why I did. I just had to get to Rebecca. I like her," Neo said. Her voice muffled from being planted in Law's chest. She trembled in his hold but couldn't bring herself to put her arms around him yet.

"I know you like her. And it's okay," Law said. He sighed again, releasing the tension in his body. "I know you're not quite yourself today."

"I'm sorry for that too," Neo said, finally putting her arms around his waist. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"It'll be fine," Law said. He clenched her hair and kissed it. "I promise. It'll be fine. Just don't leave my side again until we've taken down Doflamingo." He pulled back from her. His eyes automatically dropping to her stomach when he did. He had to force himself to look into her eyes. He cringed at her tears. He broke his own taboo. No one was suppose to make her cry. Using slow, gentle strokes, he brushed away her tears with his thumb. "I just want to know that you're safe. Will you stay with me from now on?"

"Okay." Neo nodded. She leaned into Law's hand when he continued to brush his thumb over her cheek. "I'm sorry. I still love you."

"And I still love you," Law said before brushing his lips on her forehead.

"That's so cute," Luffy said, drawing their attention to him. His bright smile causing them both to flush with pink cheeks. He turned away from them and looked around before looking at the red roof to the palace. "So this is the fourth level where Mingo is? Is that where he's at?"

"Yeah," Law said.

"Law! Straw Hat!" Diamante said.

"Diamante," Law said, looking at the flower headed man.

Neo flinched when Diamante charged at them. She tucked herself into Law, knowing she was now protected since she still didn't have her magic. She relaxed when Kyros intercepted Diamante. "Kyros!"

"I'm sorry, you two. My hands are full with him," Kyros said. "Would you take care of Doflamingo for me?"

"Of course!" Luffy and Law said.

"I'll leave that guy up to you, Soldier," Luffy added.

"Got it!" Kyros said.

"Let's go, Straw Hat," Law said putting his arm around Neo's waist and leading her away from the fight that was going on.

"Okay!" Luffy said.

Neo looked over her shoulder when Luffy suddenly ran the other way. She smiled when he went over to Rebecca and squatted down to be eye level with her.

"What's he doing now?" Law asked.

"Probably congratulating Rebecca on meeting her dad," Neo said.

"Dad, huh?" Law mumbled quietly. His eyes dropped down to Neo. She was wearing a small smile on her lips and had her left hand resting on her stomach. His heart flittered at the thought of her subconsciously checking on their child. He just knew that's what she was doing. He didn't know exactly how he knew, he just did. It excited him to think about her holding their child when he or she was finally born. But it also terrified him for multiple reasons. Having a child was always a scary thing, but what terrified him more was having to tell Neo about it. He knew it was going to be extremely hard for her to deal with. He just didn't know what kind of reaction she was going to have with it. He tightened his hold on her. A smile automatically appeared on his lips when she looked up at him curiously. He always loved the curious looks she gave him, the crew, or anything else she found interesting. It was such a cute, childlike look of pure curiosity. He wondered if their child was going to inherit that from her. That was one trait that he really wanted their child to get from her, her sweet, innocent curiosity. He also knew that if their child did inherit that it would be the end of him. Neo already brought him to his knees with just such simple looks. It would be two against one once their child was born. He was going to have to become stronger in a whole new way to be able to deal with them. "Oh boy. What have I gotten myself into?"

"Hm? What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"Nothing," Law said. He had to force himself to not sigh heavily as Neo continued to look up at him curiously. Luckily, he got a reprieve when she turned her attention to back Luffy.

"It's not Lucy," Luffy said. He put his hat on his head and turned to Rebecca with a smile. "My name is Luffy! I'm the man who'll become King of the Pirates! So don't worry!"

"He's so determined," Neo said. She looked up at Law, noticing the smile he held on his face. She poked him in the stomach. "What's that smile for?"

"Nothing," Law said.

"Uh huh. I know you, Trafalgar Law. That's not your nothing smile," Neo said. "Don't tell me you think that Luffy will become king of the pirates."

Law huffed. "We'll see, won't we? I still haven't giving up that throne yet."

"Well, whether you get it or not, you already have a throne," Neo said. She smiled when he looked at her. "What? Did you forget you married a royal?"

Law chuckled. He leaned down and pecked her lips. "How could I forget that my love is a princess? You always have been one to me."

"Liar," Neo said playfully. Both knew that wasn't true. Law didn't know what to think or do about her when he first found her. His feelings for her only changed over time.

"Oh, hush. We'll talk about this later," Law said just before Luffy ran up beside them.

"Let's go!" Luffy said. "And don't you take off like that again, Neo! You had us, especially Tra, really worried!"

"I won't, Luffy. I already promised Law I wouldn't," Neo said.

"Good!" Luffy nodded. They continued to run towards the palace until Diamante's voice and sword stopped them.

"I won't let you get to the palace! You tremendous idiot! You traitorous brat!" Diamante shrieked. He flung his flag like sword towards them.

"Hold on to me, Neo!" Law said while he grabbed onto Luffy's shirt.

"Right." Neo nodded. She tucked herself into Law's chest.

"Room! Shambles!" Law warped them away from Diamante. Once they appeared on the inside of the palace courtyard, he wrapped his arm back around Neo and made sure she landed safely on the ground with him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Hey, my magic just came back," Neo said when she reconnected with the elements and with Law. She then noticed Luffy lying sprawled out on the ground on his back. "Luffy, are you all right?" She whacked Law on the stomach. "You did that on purpose."

Law just grinned.

Neo rolled her eyes at him and looked back at Luffy when he sat up.

"I'm fine. So this is the palace?" Luffy asked, looking up at the building in front of them.

"Yeah, we're finally here," Law said.

"Wow. Your powers really do come in handy," Luffy said.

"But they take a toll on my stamina. I guess the silver line of being locked up with those cuffs is you had to haul me over here. I managed to save my strength," Law said. He lifted his hand to his torso. Creating a small Room around his hand, he looked at Neo. "Sorry, love. This is going to hurt a bit."

Neo nodded and braced herself for the coming pain.

"Scalpel!" Law said. Both he and Neo flinched at their shared pain.

"What's wrong?" Luffy asked running over to them.

"Just did an operation," Law said, feeling guilty for putting Neo through this pain.

Feeling his guilt, Neo reached out and rubbed her hand on his arm. "It's okay, Law. It didn't hurt that bad. It was better than seeing you get shot with those things."

He felt guilty for that too. He stared down at the three bullets in his hand while Neo summoned her solar crystal to heal him. "He just had to use lead bullets! That jerk!"

"Are you two okay? That didn't look too good," Luffy said. He placed his hands on his legs, bending slightly at his knees as he inspected Law's torso.

"We're fine. There's no need to worry," Law said.

"I see," Luffy said.

"Hey, they have a pool here," Neo said, looking passed Law's shoulder.

"Focus, love," Law said.

"Right. Sorry." Neo smiled innocently at him.

Law mentally sighed. He wondered how their crew was going to handle her mood swings. He was often more calm and patient than they were but currently he was having a slightly difficult time in dealing with her mood swings. Of course it didn't help that he felt it all through their bond too. But he loved her nonetheless. He would have an advantage over other men. He would literally know how she felt while going through all of this. He hoped that would help him know how to deal with her when her hormones were out of control, though he wasn't going to count on it. This was going to be a learning experience for him just as much as it was going to be for her.

"All right! Let's go and kick Mingo's butt!" Luffy said. He slammed his fist into his palm and faced the palace.

"Wait!" Law grabbed Luffy's shoulder when the younger captain tried to run off.

"What?!" Luffy asked.

"Doflamingo isn't someone that you can beat just by force alone," Law said. "You need to cool down and think."

"What?! How can I cool down after finally getting this far?!" Luffy asked.

"I'm saying, if you don't, you can't defeat him," Law said.

"I promised Rebecca! Stopping here won't change anything!" Luffy said.

"We know that, Luffy. But this isn't a fight like all of your others. You can't just go into a fight with Doflamingo with nothing but strength," Neo said. "I'm nature, literally a force to be reckoned with. But even with how powerful my magic can be I can't just stop him so easily. We need more than that."

"Fine! Then what do we do?!" Luffy asked. "We can't just sit around here talking all day on a plan! We have to go stop him right now!"

"Just promise me you won't let Doflamingo get under your skin," Law said.

"And make it quick. I've had enough of men arguing for one day," Neo said. She rubbed her temples at the thought of how many arguments she's had to listen to while traveling here. She wondered why her head hadn't split in two from it all. When the arguing didn't stop, mostly thanks to Luffy, she closed her eyes and tried to block out the noise. She knew Luffy could be stubborn, so could Law. So she had no choice but to wait until they came to an agreement on how to deal with Doflamingo.

The two stopped arguing when a green haired child suddenly started crying. Startled by the noise, Neo grabbed onto Law's arm. They all looked to the child at the same time, finding her to be dressed in a red cloak with a bear hood, a crown, a spotted dress, and carrying a bowl of grapes. She walked out of a hole in the palace wall. Luffy asked, "What the…?"

The girl walked out on the porch and said, "Excuse me! I need help!"

"Why is there a kid here?" Luffy asked.

"Papa! Mama! Where are you?!" the kid wailed.

"Don't tell me she's lost," Luffy said placing his hands on his hips.

"In a place like this? No way," Law said.

Neo stared quietly at the child. A small part of her felt sorry for the kid, but something else was bothering her more. Law was right. There was no way that a kid would be lost in a place like this. Something wasn't right with this kid or this situation. Something about her was bothering Neo. But she couldn't figure out why.

"Hey, are you lost?" Luffy asked.

"Don't pay any attention to her," Law said.

The girl screamed and pointed at Law. "I don't like this man!"

Law growled.

"Easy, Law. She's… just a child," Neo said unsure. When she felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance, she rubbed her hand on his arm, easing him back into a relaxed state. She stared at the child, carefully inspecting the kid and her own feelings.

'What's wrong, Neo? I know that tone of your voice.'

'I'm not sure. I feel like there's something I need to remember but I just can't.'

'I'm sure it will come back to you at some point. We should just get out of here now.'

Neo nodded slowly.

"Let's go," Law said, turning from the girl.

Neo's fingers were pinched on Law's sleeve so when he walked away she automatically followed him, but kept her eyes on the girl.

"It's dangerous here so go hide somewhere," Luffy said to the girl before running off to catch up with Law and Neo.

"No! Don't leave me here all alone!" the girl shrieked with impressive lung power.

Luffy plugged his ears before falling over.

Neo whimpered at the loud noise. She leashed her hold on Law's sleeve and covered her ears. "Why?! Why does everyone have to yell here?! Is there some kind of yelling curse on this country so whoever steps inside has to yell all the time?!"

"Leave her." Law slipped his arm around Neo's waist and guided her away from the girl. He shot a glare back at the crying child but kept walking.

"Help, please!" the girl begged.

"Sorry, but we've got to get going now," Luffy said. They walked away just as the girl ran off the porch to them.

"No! Don't leave me!" she demanded while jumping up and down in a fit.

Law sighed. This was one thing he was not going to allow his and Neo's child to do. Tantrums were going to be out of the question for sure. But he did know that his tolerance level with their child was going to be different from some random child they didn't know.

"I'll let you have these!" the girl said. She held up her bowl of grapes to the pirates.

"What?!" Luffy asked, jumping back to the girl.

Law stopped walking. Neo followed his lead and they both looked back towards Luffy and the girl.

The girl walked closer to them. She plucked a grape from the bowl and held it up. She said, "You can have these. They're really good."

"What?! Is it really okay?!" Luffy asked with a grin.

"Uh huh." The girl nodded. She started to walk closer to Luffy.

Neo kneaded her eyebrows. She could feel her senses were warning her about this girl. But why? What harm could a little girl do? She flinched at her own memories of being a child. She knew a little girl could do a lot. After all she unintentionally destroyed an entire island and almost killed every single person who lived here.

"Forget it!" Law snapped, causing the girl to pause.

"What's your problem?! She said I could have some!" Luffy said.

The girl smiled and continued to walk closer to them. She sat her bowl of grapes on the floor and plucked two out of it before standing up straight again. She held out the grapes to the pirates.

Suddenly, Neo's memory of the elephant stuck in the toy came back to her. The elephant had told her that he saw a kid standing there when he was turned into a toy. If that's true, then this girl must be the one that elephant was talking about! That's what my instincts have been trying to tell me! Law's right! There wouldn't be a child here like this! Not unless she works for Doflamingo too! She summoned her crystals, aiming them all at the little girl. "No! Don't let her-" The little girl's sudden screaming cut her off. A strange thing flew passed them, the girl, and landed on the wall of the palace.

"Where did that thing come from?" Luffy asked.

"Is that… Usopp?" Neo asked as they inspected the drawing on the wall that looked like Usopp with his eyes and tongue bulging and twisting out of his head. "Why would he draw a thing like that? And how did he make a drawing fly?"

"Never mind that for now. You can ask him later," Law said when he caught a glimpse of some soldiers of Doflamingo's running out of the palace.

"Miss Sugar!" a Doflamingo soldier cried as he and two other soldiers gathered around the girl who was now passed out on the ground.

"Let's go," Luffy said. He wrapped his right arm around Law and Neo before flinging his left arm up to the damaged part of the palace where the rest of the suit chamber remained. He pulled them up with him. He released them once they were low enough to land. "We're here, Mingo!"

Doflamingo smiled. With his head leaning against his fist and his legs crossed, he eyed the three people who just landed in the palace. He said, "Let me ask just to make sure. What are you here for?"

"To kick your butt!" Luffy said.

"Ditto," Law added.

Neo swallowed. Her heart began to race inside of her chest. They really were here. And she was staring at Doflamingo sitting in his huge armchair and Trebol who was standing behind him. This was it. They were about to enter the final battle with this man.

Author's Notes: Delays might happen this month due to possible storms. Last night our power got knocked out because of one. And possibly due to my indecisions about how to handle Neo and Cethin. Guess we'll see what happens when I start writing the next chapter.

Starrat: Thanks. Here it is.

Noble Pirate: Some stuff you asked about should be coming very, very soon. Though I've been debating on when Neo should be cured. Before the actual main fight would probably work best since Neo will feel all the damage done to Law and it will affect her. So I'm thinking about doing Neo's issue first then proceeding with the main story. I think? :/

Apple Bloom: Yup. Something is about to happen.