Final Battle

Part One

Neo placed her hands on the floor to steady her trembling and swaying body as she watched Luffy slam his fist into Doflamingo's stomach. She wished, hoped, and prayed that the hit would be enough to take the man out. But she knew it would have been way too easy if Doflamingo did go down with just one hit. Still she hoped and prayed that it would happen as Doflamingo fell back on his bottom from Luffy's punch. Her wings flicked and flittered in sync with her pounding heart. She wished they would obey her and disappear, but no matter how much she tried, they just wouldn't listen to her command.

"How do you like that, you jerk?!" Luffy asked, bringing Neo's attention away from her disobedient wings. She checked on him then on Law. Law was still standing on Doflamingo's chair, his sword still aimed towards the severed man below him. At least one of the enemies has been taken out even if it was just a temporary thing. Her eyes then drifted to Cethin. His dead, bloody body was still laying right where Law had left him. Even though she knew he was dead it still unnerved her to have his body so close. What he did to her was still too fresh in her mind. She wrapped her left arm around her stomach protectively like a shield, not noticing the difference that was there or the protective way she was holding her body, and forced herself to look away from the dead body before she got sick.

'It's all right, love. He can't hurt you any more. I made sure of that.' Law thought to her. His own anger of what the man did to her was still fresh in his mind too. He did his best to control it and not let it upset her anymore than she already was.

Neo rubbed her hand into her right eye. Her eyelids hung heavy, threatening to close. The stress from the day was really starting to get to her. Her body felt like it was weight down with wet sand. She just wanted to sleep, but knew she couldn't, not yet. 'I know. Let's just finish this as quickly as we can so I can sleep.'

'Of course. We'll finish this and then you can rest.'

'And I get snuggles?'

'Yes, love. You can have anything you want.' Law smiled mentally. He knew she would want to snuggle with him after this. And he was going to give it and whatever else she wanted to her when she wanted it, no matter who might be around them. Her well being meant more to him than his image or his pride. He was going to give her a back rub, a foot rub, breakfast in bed, and anything else he could think of that would help her get over this and ease the shock of being pregnant. Pregnant. He still couldn't completely grasp that little situation but he was far past denying it too. He had bigger problems to deal with and one of those was how and when exactly he was going to bring Neo into conscious awareness of it. His eyes drifted to her and they way she was holding herself. He picked up on how she was subconsciously protecting their child again. He wondered if it was possible for her to become consciously aware of it before he could tell her. He knew he had no fear of anyone else telling her, she would only believe him, but she could still piece the pieces together on her own. She was smart enough to do that. But would she? He was then pulled out of his thoughts of pampering her and her pregnancy when Trebol shouted out.

"Are you all right, Dofy?!" Trebol asked. He jerked back when Law pointed the tip of his sword to his face. "L-Law, you idiot! You are not going to get away with this!"

Neo released a frustrated sigh and growl when Doflamingo picked himself up off the ground. Despite knowing Luffy's punch wouldn't do the trick, it was still disappointing to her. "Just great."

"That was quite a blow!" Doflamingo said.

"There! You see?! It wasn't a knock out blow! Now that trick won't work again!" Law said with a sharp glare at Luffy.

Doflamingo spit out the blood that had gathered in his mouth before looking over at Luffy. "Trick? You stupid brats! You're just messing with me!" He lifted up his hand above his head. His strings shot out from the tips of his fingers, creating another string clone behind him.

"Of course he creates another clone. Why can't he just fight us head on already? But then I still can't fight yet," Neo said. She looked down at her solar crystal. She summoned one of each of her element crystals in front of her. Studying them, she knew she could use them, since they showed no signs of disappearing or of her losing control, but she wasn't sure if she should risk it. It really bothered her that the pollution was still inside of her and her wings weren't listening to her. She wondered if the pollution really did have an effect on her wings after all. She could just be slightly disconnected with them since the pollution was still in her system. She brought her eyes up from her crystals and watched as the Doflamingo clone jumped over the real Doflamingo and charged at Luffy. She felt conflicted and helpless as she watched the clone attack Luffy. His sharp fist flew towards her friend. Luckily, Luffy was quick enough to avoid the strings as they slammed into the ground. She tried to figure out what she should do. Starting down at her solar crystal she felt more of the pollution was leaving her system, but it was a slow process. Thinking about how long it's been since the stone's effects started on her, she figured it would take just as long, or longer, for the pollution to get completely out of her system. She also thought about how Law and Tero taught her to not enter into battle if she was hesitating at all. And she was hesitating a bit. She didn't just want to sit around and do nothing while her lover and friend fought for not only their lives, but everyone in the country.

She turned her attention to her element crystals. Engulfing the elements around each one, she carefully studied her control and connection with each crystal and element. She felt slightly disconnected to them too but the connection was slowly getting better. The fire flared up when she wanted it to. She created plenty of vines, rocks, thorns, and flowers and moved them with no problem. Her water easily shifted from fresh to salt, hot to cold and her winds moved when she wanted them to. She didn't feel like she was losing control over her magic. So she decided to give her solar crystal another minute before letting herself get back into the battle. She also decided it would be best for her to try and remain in her sniper position and leave Law and Luffy to fight up close with Doflamingo since they had more battle experience and was more stable than she was.

Neo turned her attention back to the battle just as Luffy slammed his fists together. He had activated his armament haki and charged at the Doflamingo clone. She watched as they traded a few intense punches before the clone kicked at her friend. Her heart skipped a beat from the attack but Luffy was easily able to duck it at the last second by leaning backwards. She was definitely going to get into this fight. She knew her earth, water, and wind crystals weren't going to do anything with Doflamingo's strings, but if she could get her fire crystals hot enough she might be able to melt his strings. She watched the fight carefully, looking for the best chance to jump in and take out the clone.

"Darn it! That jerk!" Luffy cursed when his eyes landed on Doflamingo.

Neo felt the moment for her to jump into the battle was close to coming around. She glanced over at Law to make sure he was all right. He was still safely standing on Doflamingo's chair, guarding the still severed Trebol. She then completely focused her attention on to Luffy since he was the one doing most of the fighting right now. She watched as Doflamingo sent his clone into attacking Luffy again. She gritted her teeth and clenched her hands when Doflamingo started laughing at the carnage he was causing. She was really getting sick of that man's laugh. If it was possible at all to shove someone's laugh down their throat she would have done it to him.

"I have no business with the fake Mingo!" Luffy said, bring Neo out of her thoughts if cramming Doflamingo's laugh down his throat. The rubber man charged forward again. Reactivating his armament haki and adding his second gear in this time, he kicked and punched at both the real Doflamingo and the fake one.

Doflamingo activated his own haki on his foot and slammed it into Luffy's haki fist, easily canceling out Luffy's hit and causing the younger man to jump back away from him.

"I will take you down, Mingo!" Luffy declared. He rushed forward again but stopped when the clone charged at him. He looked back at the clone hovering in the air behind him.

Neo snapped out her wings. Seeing her chance to jump into the fight, she summoned fifty of her fire crystals and banished her other element crystals.

"Bullet String!" The clone pointed its index finger at Luffy and released a string attack.

Neo moved her crystals behind Luffy. She flared them up, careful to keep the heat away from him. The fire burned red hot before turning a bright blue. The strings flew into the fire and, much to her delight, melted before they could come out the other side and puncture into Luffy's back.

"Yeah! All right, Neo!" Luffy cheered.

"Looks like I can melt Doflamingo's strings after all," Neo said with a smile.

"And that's going to be very annoying," Doflamingo said from behind Neo.

Neo's eyes widened upon realizing the warlord had moved behind her in less than a second.

"Neo! Move!" Law said, his eyes just as wide as hers. His heart took a sharp jolt. If Doflamingo got the chance he would kill both Neo and their baby. He started to lift his hand to warp her away, but stopped when Luffy pushed her out of the way and blocked Doflamingo's haki infused kick with his arm.

"Neo!" Luffy, with his second gear activated, ran to Neo. As Doflamingo swung his haki infused right foot at her stomach, he move as fast as he could to push her out of the way before Doflamingo could hurt her. "Leave her alone, Mingo!"

"Luffy!" Neo cried as she flew through the air. She snapped her wings, keeping herself from hitting the ground. She gathered her fire crystals around her body, expecting Doflamingo to send the clone after her. But he didn't. Luffy didn't give him the chance.

Luffy charged right into fighting both Doflamingo and his clone to keep them away from her. But the multitude of String Shots they were firing at him became too much. He was flung backwards from all the string hits. His body knocked into Trebol's severed head before finally bouncing to a stop near Doflamingo's chair.

"Yeah, Dofy! That serves him right!" Trebol said as his head flew through the air from Luffy hitting him. He then started to move his lower body parts, stacking himself back together. "Law, I know all about your powers! Because the ability of the op op fruit was something we sought out in the first place! Even if I did get chopped up, I can easily turn right back to normal when I put my body back together like this! Get ready to fight me! Huh?" He gasped when his body started to fall apart again and he landed back on the floor in pieces "Oh?! Oh! What happened?! What is it?!"

"The Radio Knife doesn't cause an ordinary amputation. It's different from my regular amputation. For the next several minutes, no tricks or powers will make your body reassemble back into its normal state," Law explained.

"What?! I'm in some serious trouble then!" Trebol said, his nose dripping with more snot. "I can't help my nose running!"

Law gripped the hilt of his sword, aiming it right at Trebol's divided body parts.

"Oh, wait, wait, wait!" Trebol said. "I can't stop my nose from dripping with snot!"

"Darn it!" Luffy cursed as he picked himself up off the ground. He brushed the back of his wrist over his chin before charging at Doflamingo. Once close enough, instead of attacking, he jumped over the man before he could attack. Pulling back his fist, he released his own attack. "Gum Gum Pistol!"

Doflamingo turned around to face Luffy. When the rubber man's punch came flying at him, he shot out his strings.

Luffy gritted his teeth when Doflamingo's string wrapped around his wrist. He was trapped and they all knew it. He was helpless as the warlord flung him around in the air like a whip before swinging his body to the ground.

Neo growl and summoned her wind crystals. Swirled her winds under Luffy's body, she kept him from hitting he ground while simultaneously melting the string to free him.

"Thanks, Neo!" Luffy said. He unwrapped the string from his wrist and tossed it away.

"You are becoming just as annoying at these other two pests," Doflamingo said with a frown at Neo. His lips then curled into a smile. "I'm surprised you're even fighting right now. I can see you're having a hard time with your magic. Tell me, does it hurt having all that pollution inside of you?"

"Shut up," Neo hissed. "Stop messing around and fight us for real."

"So eager to die," Doflamingo said. "But now isn't the time for that."

What's he up to? Neo wondered. Is he still just messing with us?

"I think I'll start with someone else," Doflamingo said. He turned away from her and looked over at Law and Trebol before charging for them.

"No! Law! Look out!" Neo shouted. She summoned her crystals to assist Law in defending him and moving him away from Doflamingo but her crystals started to fade away from her. "No! Not now!"

"Go away, Law!" Trebol said as he inched his head across the floor in a desperate attempt to get away from the pirate above him. "Did you forget that I used to treat you kindly?! Stop! Leave me alone! You traitor!"

"Injection!" Law said, ignoring the man's pleas. He lined up his sword with Trebol's face in preparation for his attack.

"Take this! Snot Blade-Catcher!" Trebol said, shooting out a ton of snot from his nose.

Law's eyebrows twitched when Trebol's snot landed on the end of his sword. He leaped into the air to preform his own attack. "Shot!"

Trebol screamed.

"And here's the finisher!" Law said. Before he could enact his Injection Shot at Trebol, he heard Neo cry out to him just before her magic started to fade away. From the corner of his eye he saw Doflamingo coming right at him. He didn't have a chance to move. The older man landed a kick on his side. He grunted at the impact of the kick then at the impact of his body hitting the ground. He pushed up on his arm to make his own move but stopped when he felt Trebol's snot wrap around his ankle. He switched his attack from Doflamingo to Trebol and charged at the snot man with his sword at the ready.

"Fallbright!" Doflamingo said. His strings shot into the air and arched before piercing across Law's shoulders.

Law grunted at the hit and upon feeling Neo's magic coming back to her just before the strings pierced his flesh. Darn it. Why did her magic have to come back now? Couldn't it have waited until after the hit?

"Tra! Neo!" Luffy shouted. He ran over to Neo.

Neo screamed out at the pain shooting through their bodies as Law hit the ground. Her knees buckled under her and she too hit the floor. Her solar crystal reappeared beside her, lessening the pain in her body. She panted from exhaustion from the fighting and her pregnancy. Pushing up on her forearms, she looked over at Doflamingo. "Darn… it. So tired. And my magic… is still fading out. Such… a pain."

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked. He knelt down beside her and placed his hand on her back.

"I'm fine. Help Law," Neo said. "Get him away from Doflamingo! Don't let him touch Law!"

"Right!" Luffy said with a nod. He jumped back to his feet and ran towards Law and Doflamingo.

"I don't and never will forgive anyone who messes with my family," Doflamingo said with a deep frown. "Do you remember what I hate most in the world, Law? That's to be looked down upon."

"Tra! I'm coming!" Luffy said, running closer towards his friend. His path was cut short when Doflamingo turned his clone back into strings. The strings hit the ground hard behind him, causing him to stop and turn around. He turned back, activated his armament haki on his right hand and arm. Before he could attack Doflamingo, using his own armament haki on his foot and leg, landed a solid kick on his body. He felt his body flying through the air.

Suddenly, his body stopped flying. He blinked in confusion at his body hovering in the air far away from the palace and the ground. For a split second he thought Neo might have wrapped her winds around him, but he didn't feel the wind around him at all. "What? What's going on?! My body just stopped moving!"

He struggled against himself when his body started moving all on its own. His hands moved behind his back and strings bound his wrists there. He then felt his body being jerk backwards towards the palace.

"Luffy!" Neo shouted when Luffy when flying off the palace. She summoned her wind crystals. But before she could use them, Luffy's body suddenly stopped moving. "What the… oh no!"

Summoning her fire crystals, she shifted them to burn the string from Luffy. She didn't get a chance to burn it before Luffy's body swung upwards causing the string to move away from her fire. She tried to follow the string's movements but it was hard since the string was barely visible. She moved her crystals to Luffy's wrists. Aiming the heat away from his skin, she started to flare the crystals up.

"Sorry, Princess, but I'm not going to give you the chance to burn my strings again." She heard Doflamingo say. A chill ran down her spine upon feeling his presence appear behind her.

'Neo! I order you to move! Wind!' Law called to her.

Neo's body instantly obeyed his command. Her body shifted into wind. She flew away from the spot she was currently at just before Doflamingo's string clone could slice her up. She shifted back into her body, hovering in the air, and looked at the clone below her. "I didn't even sense him. Thanks, Law." Her crystals faltered a bit. She switched from her winds to her wings before she could plummet to the ground. "So tired. I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to fight. This pollution is leaving my system but I'm just really tired. I'm not sure why. I guess it's just the combination of everything."

'Yeah.' Law's eyes lifted to her stomach. A combination of everything. He sighed. They really did need to finish this quickly. 'Come to me.'

"Right," Neo said. She flew over everyone, dropped down beside Law, and helped him sit up on his legs. She shifted her solar crystal glow over him, relieving them both of the pain still shooting through their shoulders where the strings struck him. She placed her hand on his arm and looked him over for other damages, her eyes landed on the holes the strings made in his body and his coat. Her heart skipped a beat upon realizing one of them came too close to his, to their heart, for her liking. Tears gathered in her eyes. "Oh geez, Law. That… those strings almost…"

'We're all right, love. Don't cry.' Law wanted to give her a gentle look and wrap her in his arms, but he didn't. He knew this wasn't the time or place for that. And he knew she knew that as well no matter how much she wanted it from him.

'I know.' Neo nodded. She forced her eyes away from his damaged body. With her solar crystal healing him, his wounds would be fine in no time. Exhaling she released some tension from her body and refocused on the fight.

"Darn it. I was so sure I had you that time, Princess," Doflamingo said. He watched Neo disappeared before his clone could strike her down. His eyes returned to her when she reappeared in the air and while she flew over and landed beside Law. He chuckled while making a few hand gestures to take control of Bellamy's body.

"S-stop it!" Bellamy said when his body started moving on Doflamingo's commands.

Doflamingo chuckled at the man's plea but made no other reply to him. With a few more hand movements, Luffy was dragged across the floor towards Bellamy.

Neo narrowed her eyebrows. She moved her fire crystals towards Bellamy and Luffy's bodies. She tired to burn the strings again but Doflamingo quickly moved his two little puppets away from her crystals. She added in her other element crystals. Using her wind and earth crystals she tried to bind and slow down Bellamy and Luffy's bodies. Wrapping the wind around them, she used vines to wrap around their bodies and shifted the stone floor of the palace so it would wrap around their feet. She realized her mistake with that one when Doflamingo fired his strings towards the earth and vines that trapped his puppets. She released a curse under her breath. Releasing them from her trap, she lifted them both into the air before Doflamingo could slice them with his strings. She should have known he would do that. If he couldn't control them then he would just kill them.

"I know you're frustrated but cursing gets you no where," Law said as he pushed himself to his knees.

"I'm sorry," Neo said. She shot him a playful glare. "I guess you and the crew has rubbed off on me more than you had intended."

Law chuckled. He was guilty of cursing and so was the crew. And that was one thing he didn't want her to learn. But clearly slip ups were going to happen. 'Neo, try using some seawater on Doflamingo. If we get lucky we can at least weaken him and free Straw Hat.'

'I'll try. I'm still not back up to a hundred percent.'

'You're doing just fine. Don't feel guilty for anything. Nothing's your fault.' Law's eyes dropped to her stomach, again. It was his fault. Or so he thought and felt.

Neo brought out fifty of her water crystals. Shifting the water from fresh to salt, she shot out a stream of water from each of them.

"Look out, Dofy!" Trebol said when Neo attacked his boss.

Doflamingo looked back over at Neo before seeing her water coming right for him. He pulled himself into the air by his strings. Looking down he saw Neo's water easily following his every move. He jerked himself up, to the right, then to the left before sending his clone towards Neo. The clone swiped its nails out like claws, sending four strings towards her.

Law swiped his sword upwards, it clanked against the stings, blocking them from slicing her up.

"You shouldn't have done that, Neo," Doflamingo said. He jerked his hands across each other. Luffy and Bellamy's body hurled towards each other again.

"No! Don't! Leave them alone!" Neo demanded. She flung herself forward, not thinking about how powerless she was at the moment, but Law wrapped his arm around her waist. She barely registered him pulling her back to his chest. "Let go, Law!"

"No!" Law said. His arm tightened around her body as his eyes locked onto Bellamy and Luffy.

Bellamy and Luffy panted hard from having their bodies being jerked around at every turn. Both were extremely grateful when Neo had temperately freed them from the torture.

Luffy looked up where he was laying on the floor. He watched as Neo chased Doflamingo around with her water crystals. "Go, Neo! Take him out!"

"Can she really do it thought?" Bellamy asked himself. He got his answer when Doflamingo sent his clone after her, causing her to stop. "Just great."

"Hey!" Luffy protested when his body started moving on its own again. He was being pulled across the floor towards Bellamy again. "Ah! Stop it!"

"Stop it! Stay away from me!" Bellamy said when his own body started moving. He faced towards Luffy. Panic settling over him when his hands lifted his swords into the air, he was going to slice up the one who called him a friend. "Get away! Stay away from me, Straw Hat! Dodge it!"

"Bella-" Luffy started.

"Dang it!" Bellamy cursed as his body swung his swords, slicing Luffy.

Luffy winced when he felt the blade slicing through his skin. Iron filled the air as his blood leaked from his wounds.

"Straw Hat!" Law said.

"Luffy!" Neo said. She ran her eyes over the situation. She knew Doflamingo was correct in saying he wasn't going to give her the chance again to use her fire crystals on his strings. And it was clear he wasn't going to give her much of a chance to attack him directly. So she looked for something else to burn. But the only other weapon in the area was Bellamy. And she couldn't, and wouldn't, use her fire crystals on him. She couldn't use her other crystals either. Doflamingo would just easily slice her attempts up before she could make any progress. She closed her eyes when the sunlight flashed into her eyes. She blinked upon realizing it wasn't the sunlight, not directly anyway. The sun had reflected off Bellamy's swords. She did have another target to attack. If she could just melt those swords then Luffy wouldn't get sliced again. And Luffy would be on a more level playing field against Bellamy. All she had to do was wait for the right moment to melt them.

"They're all beaten!" Trebol laughed from being her and Law.

Neo looked over to Trebol then at Doflamingo when she saw the man moving from the corner of her eye. She tensed up when she realized he was coming towards them. Gathering her crystals around herself and Law, she said, "Stay away from us, Doflamingo!"

"Did you think you all could really take me down?" Doflamingo asked, ignoring Neo's weak threat. He looked down at Law and Neo when he was about five yards from them. "The fact that rotten brats like you guys got conceited and thought even for a second that you could defeat me is an unbearable humiliation to me. Though I will admit that Neo would stand the best chance of defeating me if she was properly trained that is. Her lack of blood lust and thirst for battle really puts her at a disadvantage from those who want to improve and get better. One would think with how protective she is of you, Law, she would be more bloodthirsty when it came to protecting you. You should have taught her to be more like me. Then she would be a real force to be concerned about. She could have total domination over the world."

"Shut up," Neo said through gritted teeth. Her eyes sharpened as she glared at the man standing over her and Law. "You might know about my elemental and royal heritage… you might know about my weaknesses now, but that's it. You don't know anything else about me. You have no idea what drives me and what doesn't. I'm not a murderer. And I will never become like you. Never!"

"You will become a murderer once I get my hands on you. That is, if I decide to let you live. It's really a tough decision to make. There are some benefits to keeping you alive. I could easily loan you out to people who want to win a war. Your magic would be a great assistance to those type of people," Doflamingo said. "Or men are always willing to pay for sex. And with your crystals I'm sure there are some very creative ways you could satisfy a man's desires for a woman. Am I correct, Law?"

Neo flinched. Her heart pounded erratically in her chest as she tucked herself closer to Law's body. The mere thought of experiencing sex with any man besides Law made her sick to her stomach. She gagged several times before getting body under control. No one, expect for Law, was ever going to touch her like that. Never would she share that experience with anyone else. Law was the only one. And he always would be the only one.

"Don't you dare even think about doing either of those things to her!" Law hissed. He lifted up his sword, crossing it in front of Neo's body. His own heart was beating just as erratically as Neo's. In fact, it was beating in sync with hers. And he was having the exact same thoughts as she was. There would be no other man she would sleep with. The mere thought of another man touching her like that made him feel ill. He wouldn't allow it. And he would take extremely desperate measures to keep that from happening to her. She couldn't even be touched in normal everyday ways from people she didn't know. He knew it would completely destroy her if another man attempted to sleep with her like he did. He was the only one for her. And she was the only one for him.

Doflamingo chuckled in delight at the terrified and disdain filled looks he extracted from Neo and Law. He would have like to enjoy the looks for several more minutes, but he had to move things along. He said, "I can work those details out later if I decide to keep her. Just listen for now. I'm a descendant of the noblest bloodlines in the entire world, the Celestial Dragons."

"What?!" Luffy asked.

"We're admired by thousands of people even before we are born! And I used to possess the most unobtainable power in the entire world!" Doflamingo gritted his teeth. He wiggled his fingers around in a way that snapped his bones several times, making Neo feel squeamish. "However, one day, my father decided to abandoned the greatest power in the world that we were born with and forced the four of us to live in this cesspool of a world! Screw that live like human-beings bull!" He turned and walked away from Law and Neo. "My father was a very idiotic man indeed!"

"What's he doing?" Neo asked as she and Law watched Doflamingo walk away from them. Her eyes then caught the sight of a beautiful butterfly with blue wings. The wings reminded her of her own. Her body turned cold when she realized Doflamingo was walking right towards the butterfly. Before she could react and save the innocent creature, he sliced up the beautiful blue butterfly with his strings. It made her angry. Storm clouds rolled in above them. The wind picked up, thunder clashed, and lightning flashed multiple times.

Her stomach lurched, forcing her storm to dissipate before she could strike at Doflamingo. She had to close her eyes and look away, taking deep breaths before she could lose the apples she ate before. She flinched when she heard his foot slammed onto the ground, onto the butterfly he killed. She didn't have to look to know he stomped on the already dead creature. He was heartless after all. This just proved it even more. Tears pushed against the back of her eyelids as she covered her mouth with her hand. Her emotions started to run wild at that point. She felt extreme sadness for the dead butterfly before feeling extreme rage for Doflamingo then she went back to just feeling regularly sad.

"Easy, Neo," Law said, softly and comfortingly. He moved his hand behind her back and rubbed her gently, coaxing her back into a relaxed and focused state. "Just breath. Deeply and slowly."

Neo nodded and obeyed his orders. She took in a slow deep breath and released it.

"What do you think happened?" Doflamingo then continued. He laughed to himself before turning around to face them all. "By the young age of ten, I had seen both heaven and hell on earth! Then, I killed my father who was the cause of all that and returned to the sacred land of Mariejois with his head! But the Celestial Dragons in heaven would never accept someone from the line of traitors! I knew there was no way to get out of this hell! I swore to myself at that very moment that I would destroy every single thing in the world that they held dear! The life I have lived is on a very different level from yours! I have no time to mess around with you stupid brats!"

'That's why he's doing all this? Because he didn't get pampered like he wanted? He's nothing but a spoiled little brat!' Neo stared at Doflamingo in disbelief. Her anger built back up in her at all the lives she knew this man had taken just because he thought he had the right. Small thunderclouds gathered and rumbled above them, but did nothing else. She kept a tight control on her emotions. She needed to save her rage for now. She calmed down and the clouds faded away back into a peaceful setting. 'By the age of ten? I was much younger than that when people started hating me. And he thinks he had it bad? The Celestial Dragons are horrible to people. It's no surprised that people wanted him to suffer. But I did nothing wrong to people. I was just different. I was just hated for being different. For almost twenty solid years I was… I was…' She bit her bottom lip.

'Easy, love. I know. Don't let him get to you. Put it out of your mind.' Law stole Neo a quick glance when he felt her on the verge of crying again. He relaxed when he caught her eyes and when she settled down from his gaze.

Neo then gasped.

'What's wrong?'

'The animals are going crazy again. I must have scared them when I lost control.'

'Can you stop them with your magic the way it is?'

'I'm trying.' Neo closed her eyes. Through her unstable connection to her magic, she sensed several animals running through the country, some of them were falling asleep so she assumed the navy must have gotten some tranquilizers. But she also assumed that they didn't and wouldn't have enough to stop all of the animals when she sensed an elephant in some serious distress. She called out to the elephant. Hey, easy now. What are you doing? Why are you hurting yourself? I know you're scared. Please, just calm down. I'm sorry that I scared you before. I really didn't mean to do it. Just relax now. Please? I promise I won't lose control again. That part of the fight is over. That's it. Just relax now. That's a good boy. She sighed when she finally connected to all of the animals and got them to relax again.

'Did it work?'

'Yeah. But I don't know for how long since we both know that Doflamingo is going to close his strings in at some point.' Neo looked into Law's eyes.

'We're all going to be in trouble when that happens if we don't get him knocked out.' Law nodded slowly.

The two broke their stare into each others eyes when Luffy started shouting again.

"Darn it! So annoying! I can't take it off!" Luffy growled as he struggled against the strings that were still biding his hands behind his back.

"It's no use! You'll never escape those strings!" Doflamingo said before sending his clone after Luffy. The clone charged at Luffy, swiping its hand through the air like claws.

Luffy growled and flung his body to his left just avoiding the strings from the clone. He looked over his shoulder when he sensed a presence behind him. Bellamy was coming at him again with his swords. He dodged Bellamy's swords then dodged the clone's strings.

"Dodge, Straw Hat!" Bellamy cried as he jumped into the air and brought his swords down towards Luffy.

Luffy rolled away from Bellamy as the blonde haired pirate was force to swipe his swords at him multiple times. The clanking of Bellamy's swords on the stone floor motivated him more to keep rolling. When he rolled over a piece of broken stone, he managed to get back onto his feet. He looked up. His eyes widened upon seeing the clone and Bellamy coming at him.

There! Neo thought when she finally located her moment to get rid of Bellamy's swords. She placed a total of four fire crystals right up against his blades, one at the top of the blades and one near the bottom of the blades. Carefully pushing the heat away from the man's hands, she flared up her fire crystals. The blades burned bright red from the fire. The majority of the steel melted away and dropped onto the ground, sizzling and hissing as it cooled. Some, however, started dripping down the hilt towards Bellamy's hands. She used her wind crystals to cool and blow that part away. She exhaled when his blades were completely melted and could no longer be used as a weapon against her friend.

That woman, Doflamingo thought to himself when Neo melted Bellamy's blades. He looked over at the blue haired woman, carefully taking every inch of her in. She really does have a lot of potential with that magic of hers. If only I knew what caused her to be so soft on people. She could reach unlimited heights if only she would use those skills of hers properly. I'm also surprised that Law hasn't utilized her skills better than they are. He used to be so cunning and smart. I wonder if it's just his soft heartedness that causes him to not properly use her. He chuckled. Perhaps I will keep her alive. There really are so many uses for her kind of talents. And there are a couple of talents I'd like to try out myself. Plus, I'd not only get a princess but also a half breed. The child she carries could also hold a lot of potential if raised correctly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Luffy said. He kicked up his feet towards Bellamy and the clone. He felt a small bit of relief when he caught a glimpse of Neo's crystals beside Bellamy's swords. He felt even more relief when Neo melted Bellamy's blades. He wouldn't have to deal with them or getting cut again by them. "Thanks, Neo! That helps a lot! Gum Gum Octopus Stamp!" He rapidly stomped on the clone's string attacks before kicking himself backwards and back on his feet. "That was close!"

"Behind you!" Law said.

"Luffy!" Neo said. She moved her twenty of her fire crystals towards Luffy. Flaring them up again, she forced Doflamingo to move the clone away before she could melt it.

"Geez! That was close!" Luffy said. He smiled a very grateful thanks to his friend. "Thanks again, Neo!"

"You guys have no idea. Can you imagine what people would do to a fallen Celestial Dragon?" Doflamingo said. He shifted the direction of the clone. He guided it back down to Luffy, but instead of aiming for the pirate, he aimed for the floor. The clone's feet hit the floor, shattering it and causing itself, Luffy, and Bellamy to fall to the level below them. Once they were below, he turned and headed back towards Neo and Law. "All right then, now that they are out of the way, we can begin with the executions. You are going to be the first to die, Law."

Trebol laughed. "Hey! Chop him up into little bits and pieces just like he did to me! Chop him up good and small!"

"I'm really disappointed by you," Doflamingo said, looking down at Law.

Neo shifted her crystals in front of her and Law. Her heartbeat increased as she tried to think of some way to stop this man.

"There's something I still don't understand," Law said. "You're a former Celestial Dragon who fell from the grace of Mariejois. Yet this morning you called CP-0 into action. How can you still wield their power if you're no longer one of them?"

"Do you really want to know that just before you die?" Doflamingo asked. "It's because I know about an important national treasure that they have inside the Holy Land of Mariejois."

"The national treasure in Mariejois?" Law asked while he stood up. He moved his sword free arm from Neo's back and placed it in front of her. His arm brushed against her baby bump. He forced himself to not think about it. He, feeling her resist a little but quickly obeyed him, just calmly guided her behind him so he would be between her and Doflamingo. He knew she was being obedient to him because of their child.

Neo resisted Law a little when he crossed his arm in front of her. For whatever reason, she didn't let herself resist him for long. She just obediently followed his silent order and moved behind him. She kept her eyes locked onto Doflamingo and her crystals between them and engulfed in their elements.

"That's correct. It's something that could shake the world to its very foundation. To the Celestial Dragons, I'm the worst kind of enemy. I'm an enemy with an ace up his sleeve. They tried to kill me but when they realized that they couldn't the Celestial Dragons became very cooperative. Plus, if only I could have had your op op fruit power in my hands on that day, I would have taken the helm of the world by utilizing the national treasure in Mariejois. Your power has that much value. As well as the Personality Transplant Surgery, there is another usage. Do you know what that is? If a skilled enough surgeon utilizes the op op fruit, the dream mankind has had since ancient times would finally come true. That's why quite a lot of people in the world call it the ultimate devil fruit."

"Yeah, I know all about that. I just have no interest in using it. The greatest power of this fruit is to grant another person the gift of eternal life through the Perpetual Youth Surgery. But in preforming that technique the surgeon loses their own life," Law said, lifted his sword towards Doflamingo.

"Indeed. That's why I wasn't going to let you eat it thirteen years ago. You repaid my patron with betrayal," Doflamingo said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Law said sarcastically. 'Neo, I want you to avoid fighting him up close at all costs. No matter what happens, you keep your distance. That's an order. Do you understand me?'

Neo sighed. 'I understand. I'll stay as far away from him as I can. But I won't leave you if he tries to-'

'I know, love. That's not going to happen. He's not going to kill us. Back up now.'

'All right.' Neo flickered her wings. She took to the air, leaving Law on the ground to face Doflamingo head to head. She forced herself to not think about the battle Law had earlier today with this man. This was going to be different with her here to back him up. She flew until she was about thirty yards away from the coming battle. She hovered in the air, carefully observing the battle and waiting for her chance to assist Law when he wanted it or needed it. She was extremely thankful for all the practice they had fighting together. They knew each others moves very well, so well that they didn't need their bond to communicate with each other. They could do that with their body movements and from knowing each other so well.

"Diamante's swordplay! Bullet String!" Doflamingo said, firing a string at Law.

Neo watched as Law blocked his attack with his sword while running towards Doflamingo. She barely kept up with their movements as they exchanged an intense round of haki infused punches and kicks.

Law blocks his attack while moving closer to Doflamingo. They exchanged more haki infused punches and kicks. The dull thuds of their hits washed through the air.

"Lao G's martial art!"

"Room! Injection Shot!" Law thrust his sword forward.

Doflamingo spread out a string net in front of him. He caught the tip of Law's sword with it.

Neo found her move when Doflamingo blocked Law's blade with that string net. The older man's face was extremely close to the net and the blade. She moved her fire crystals close to Law's sword. Flaring them up, she pushed the blaze towards Doflamingo, forcing the man to move away.

Doflamingo lifted himself into the air by his strings. "Gladius' gunnery! You got all your fighting skills from us! And I know you passed them onto your sweet little lover there."

"Yeah, I did get all my fighting skills from you people! And I'm still here thanks to Cora!" Law said. He jumped towards Doflamingo, getting Neo's winds wrapped around him body to give him more speed and power. He struck his sword against the strings, pushing them and Doflamingo back thanks to Neo's assistance. "Actually, I am very grateful to you all! Every single one of you gave me the power I need to take you all down!"

Neo watched Law's every move with close intensity. She could feel his mind drifting back to the last day he was with Corazon. She knew the story very well. She has heard it a rather large amount of times since she often asked Law to tell her about the man who saved his life. And Law was more than happy to share his memories of the man that he had as often as she wanted to heard it. Over that time she just somehow grew to love Corazon almost as much as she loved anyone else. Despite not actually, physically meeting him, she honestly believed that the man was watching over her somehow. She knew when she was poisoned back on Luminous that Corazon was really with her. He had told her some things about Law that Law never told her. And she knew he had been watching out for them both since she had come to live with Law and the Heart Pirates. She never did understand how it was possible exactly.

But she knew it was. And she also knew that no one would ever really believe her about meeting a dead man, not even the crew. She did once tell them about meeting Corazon when she was healing from the poison but she sense they thought it was just a high fever hallucination. That didn't bother her at all. She knew Law believed her when she told him about it. And that's all that mattered to her. They were able to become closer through those little moments she had of Corazon. Now they were in the final battle with Doflamingo. Soon both of them would be freed from the man and Corazon's wish would finally come true. Law was finally going to be free. Free from Doflamingo and free from the past. The final battle had begun long before this moment. And soon it would be over.

Author's Notes: Possible delay for the next chapter. Geez getting Neo in those fights are a real struggle. But we're so close to the manga. I'm conflicted on that. At least once we are I'll be able to work on my other stories more. This one just takes up so much time.

Silver Pride: I would have loved for Law to torture Cethin longer, but Mingo wouldn't have allowed it forever.

Starrat: Thanks. Here it is.

Apple Bloom: I wish it could have gone on longer too. At least another chapter but it didn't. Sigh.

Loveanimation4life: Yeah, this time I really wanted to make sure I gave Neo and her people a real weakness. It's no fun when characters are over powerful and can't be taken down. I think everyone's anxiously waiting for him to tell Neo she's pregnant. Me too. I just can't have her known for a while because of the reaction she's going to have to it.