Final Battle
Part Two
Neo panted softly as she let her wings hover her lazily in the air. She watched with worry as Law ran towards Doflamingo and clashed with him. She eyed Doflamingo's strings warily as he sliced the colorful things at Law's sword. The clank from connecting with the blade vibrated through the air, her body, and her ears. She carefully watched for openings she could take to help Law. But with how fast they were moving and how tired she was feeling, she didn't think that she would be able to help Law all that much. Law would swipe his sword at Doflamingo and the warlord would easily dodge it then retaliate with his String Shot to which Law easily brushed aside before charging forward. Their clashes seemed never ending despite having only begun.
However, she wasn't going to give up on trying to help her lover. She just wished she could do something more than just burn Doflamingo's strings. It seemed to her that that just wasn't enough to help. Doflamingo could easily discard the melted string and make more. She felt she would have a better chance of holding back the ocean with a broom than trying to stall or stop Doflamingo with her fire crystals. She crossed her right arm over her face and her left arm over her stomach when one of Law and Doflamingo's clashes resulted in a furious backlash. The backlash of their clashing attack sent Trebol's body parts flying back against what was left of the palace wall. She summoned her wind crystals and created a gale around herself when the backlash became too much for her to handle.
Looking through one of her eyes, she noticed that the backlash had even thrown Doflamingo and Law off balance, they back away from each other. Doflamingo had to slow himself down by embedding his strings into the ground. And Law had to slow himself down by jamming his sword into the stone floor.
Neo felt Law panting hard from the fight he had been doing. It made her feel even more tired than she already was. She hoped that her own tiredness wasn't affecting him, at least not too much. She lowered her arms and continued to watch the battle below her while increasing the magic of her solar crystal. Its warm glow washed over her, making her feel a little better and less tired. That should also help Law.
…
"What's the matter, Law? Is that all you've got?" Doflamingo asked as he stood up from the ground. "You really were just playing into my hands after all." He pointed his finger at a Law, firing several String Shots at him.
Law easily deflected all of the strings that came towards him. The strings pinged and bounce off his blade and embedded themselves in the stones walls and floor around them. Once all the strings had been averted, he looked up to find that Doflamingo wasn't in his sight anymore. He looked around in confusion before he sensed Neo's heart rate take a sharp jump. His eyes shot up to her. He saw Doflamingo had jumped up and was heading right for her. "No! Leave her alone!"
…
Neo gasped when Doflamingo appeared in front of her and wrapped his strings around her body before she could get away from him. She gathered her crystals around her, firing off all of her attacks at him. "Stay away!"
Doflamingo chuckled at her attempt to drive him away. But he easily held himself in place with his strings and sliced up her physical attacks. She then tried to escape when she turned her body completely into fire. He wrapped his strings around the clouds above them and easily followed her when she slipped away from his hold.
Neo, using too much of her magic, reverted back to her physical form only after thirty seconds of trying to escape the mad man following her. Her panting and tiredness had increased with more magic she used. Her wings and crystals faltered, causing her to drop a couple feet from the air before she could catch herself. She gritted her teeth and glared at Doflamingo. He's only coming after me because I'm so weak right now.
"It seems you're running low on magic and strength," Doflamingo said as he swung towards Neo and inspected how much she was panting. He lifted his hand, his colorful strings following his movements. "Such a pity."
Neo moved her fire crystals between herself and Doflamingo. She went to flare them up but stopped when she noticed the solid structure of the crystals liquefy. "What the heck was that?"
"Big mistake!" Doflamingo said when he caught Neo getting distracted. He swung his swords at her at a faster rate. "You should never become distracted in battle!"
"Yes, Dofy! Slice her up!" Trebol cheered from below them.
Neo lifted her eyes back to the man in front of her. Her eyes widened at the strings coming closer towards her.
"Room! Shambles!" Law's voice cried out before Neo's body was switched out for his. He swung his sword at the strings, sending another violent clank through the air.
"Very nice," Doflamingo said with a smile. He pushed back against Law's sword. "But how long can you two keep this up? I can easily see that her pregnancy is getting the best of her. And she still doesn't even know that she is pregnant. Why is that, Law? Why do you keep insisting on keeping that from her? Surely she'll eventually put the pieces together. I know she's not naive enough to completely dismiss the signs of her pregnancy. You're a doctor after all. I'm sure you've gone over all of this with her at some point in time. If not you, then her parents or someone else has told her about all of this."
"Shut up," Law hissed. His eyes sharped with light and a disdained filled glare as he forced himself not to reveal anything to Neo. "She is none of your concern. And neither is our child."
"Sorry, Law. But they are my concern when you're the one who brought them into my kingdom. After all, I will be taking them into my care once I have finally killed you and Straw Hat," Doflamingo said before dropping back down to the ground and heading for Neo again.
"Doflamingo!" Law shouted.
…
Neo wrapped her winds around herself and pulled her body away from Doflamingo as he slammed his strings down on the ground where she was standing. Using her winds to move herself around, she also picked up pieces up the broken palace to try and slow Doflamingo. It didn't work much. He just kept easily slicing his strings through everything she threw at him. She then picked up a huge piece of stone and flung it at him. Once his vision was blocked from her, she moved fifty of her fire crystals on her side of the stone. When he sliced it up, she flared up her fire crystals. The blaze grew into a raging wildfire. It started off as reddish orange and as she increased the heat the flame changed to blue.
Doflamingo jerked back from the blaze, but stopped when he noticed the blaze dimmed and turned back to it regular reddish orange color that couldn't damage his strings. He remained still as Neo's body was switched out with Law's once more. He smiled again and asked, "Tell me something, Law. I know you two can feel each others pain. But what else can you feel? Does her pregnancy symptoms affect you too? When she goes into labor, you will feel her pain, correct?"
"Why are you bother asking me all these questions when you know I'm not going to answer a single one of them?" Law asked.
"I'm just curious, Law. I know her crystals protect her child. So you don't have to worry about me killing the kid even though I'm attacking her. I have plans for the kid after all," Doflamingo said. "And Cethin did tell me everything he knows about the elementals, but his information was seriously lacking when it comes to this bond thing you share with her. Why is that? Is it really a rare thing among her people?"
"Shut up!" Law said. He gripped his sword and pointed the blade towards Doflamingo. "We're here to fight, not to talk!"
"Indeed we are," Doflamingo said before going after Neo once more.
"Will you stop trying to attack her?!" Law shouted as he warped himself in Neo's place again. He prepared to clash with Doflamingo once more but a sharp jolt passed through his chest and stomach when he realized he had fallen into a trap. Doflamingo knew that he would switch places with Neo again. This time the man was prepared for it and doubled back when Law had switched places with Neo. And there was no time for him to switch them again. "No! Neo!"
"Law!" Neo screamed. She wasn't prepared for the sudden change in tactics from Doflamingo either. She had no time to move. She didn't have enough magic left to turn into one of the elements to let his fist pass through her. She couldn't think of what else to do as Doflamingo's fist swung right towards her stomach.
Doflamingo's grin grew wider as his fist swung closer towards Neo's stomach. His intention wasn't to actually kill the child Neo held inside of her. The child had far too much value to him for him to do that. He just want to scared Law as much as he could. He wanted to torture his former subordinate for disobeying and betraying him. And attacking his lover and child was the best way he knew how to do that.
Suddenly, Neo's crystals completely liquefied, catching them all off guards as they flew around her stomach, wrapping around her like a protective shield that went all around her stomach and back. She blinked down at herself and her crystals in confusion. "What the heck just happened?"
Doflamingo, Trebol, and Law all thought the exact same thing.
"Neo," Law said before recovering from the stun of her crystals doing what they did. He warped her over to him. Putting his sword free arm around her waist while crossing his sword in front of her, he stared down in disbelief at her crystals.
"L-Law, what just happened?!" Neo asked. Her hands grabs onto his jacket like she was scared. Part of her was since she had no idea what was going on, but the other part of her still trusted her crystals fully. "What's going on?! Why… why did my crystals do this?!"
"Yes, Law," Doflamingo said. He turned to the two younger pirates and looked at the crystals wrapped around her stomach. "Cethin told me that an elemental's crystals do protect an unborn baby, but he said that was more on the inside of them somehow. He never mentioned something like this happening. So what is this? Does this have something to do with her being pregnant?"
"Shut up!" Neo snapped. "I'm not pregnant!"
"Easy, Neo," Law said, not taking his eyes from her stomach. I have no idea what's going on with her crystals. I also thought that the shield was formed on the inside of a pregnant elemental or they protect the child like they did on Punk Hazard with Monet. The elementals never mentioned something like this happening. But they have to be protecting our child. Perhaps this is some kind of evolution?
"Law? Law, what's going on in your head?" Neo asked, her voice timid and frightened as Law continued to stare down at her crystals in disbelief. She tightened her hold on his jacket. "You are very distant right now. It's scaring me."
"I'm sorry," Law said. He forced his eyes off her stomach and looked into her frightened eyes. He forced himself to relax and released all of his questions that concerned this unexpected change. He smiled lightly when he felt her relax when he did. "I don't know what's going on with your crystals. But we can figure that out later. At least they're still protecting you and…"
"And?" Neo asked with a curious blink of her eyes. "And what?"
"Nothing," Law said. He glanced over at Doflamingo. The man gave him an 'I told you so' type grin. After a sharp glare at the older man, he turned his attention back to Neo, making sure to keep his voice low and his lips turned so Doflamingo couldn't read them. "We can talk about it later. Right now we need to keep our focus on Doflamingo. I think he's only attacking you because you're so weak at the moment. And because of our bond."
"Our bond?" Neo asked, keeping her lips from moving as much as possible.
"Yeah. He's trying to wear me down through you," Law said.
"I'm sorry. I should have guessed he would try and do this," Neo said. She glanced over at Doflamingo before bring her eyes back to Law. Her electric orbs filled with concern at what Law might order her to do. "You're not going to order me away from here, are you?"
Law exhaled. His eyes dropped to her stomach again. He studied her crystal shield, wondering how powerful it really was, before lifting his eyes back to hers. "To be honest, I really do want to order you away from here. I actually wanted to order you to go with Blackleg to Zou." He tightened his arm around her waist when she tightened her hands on his coat. "But I know you wouldn't have listened. I know that's one order you would have broken. It's fine though. I understand your need and desire to be with me. Just try and keep away from Doflamingo from this point on. I'll do my best to keep him away from you as well."
"I'll try, Law. It's just hard since I'm so tired and running low on magic," Neo said. She felt a strong desire to lean into Law's hold but forced herself not to actually do it. She knew now wasn't the time or place. And it would give Doflamingo a clear opening for attacking them.
"I know. I can feel how tired you are. Just hang on for a little bit longer," Law said. His eyes dropped down to her knees when she wobbled from her energy and magic loss. "I promise I'll try and finish this as soon as I can."
Neo nodded when he started to pull away from her. She wanted to tighten her hold on him and keep him with her when her nightmare of him losing his arm came flooding back to her. But she forced her fingers to uncurl from his coat as he stepped away from her. "Be careful, Law. I don't like that you have to fight him."
"I know," Law said. He walked towards Doflamingo, holding his sword out in preparation to attack or defend.
Neo's heart clenched as she watched him walk away from her. She tried force her nightmare out of her head. She tired not to think about how her nightmares like that had a bad habit of coming true. But the thoughts refused to completely leave her head. They stayed in the back of her mind, haunting her as he moved farther and farther away from her. She took a deep breath. Exhaling she flittered her wings and lifted herself up into the air despite knowing Doflamingo could easily follow her up there. She settled into watching the fight again as Law and Doflamingo clashed with each other. Doflamingo had just lifted his finger towards Law to fire several String Shots at him.
…
"You know you can't get away from me," Doflamingo said, continuing to fire his strings at Law. "So just stop running."
"I'm not running anywhere! I came to see you on my own free will!" Law said blocking more of Doflamingo's attacks.
"Will?" Doflamingo asked while rushing towards Law.
"I told you! I'm here to settle things up from thirteen years ago!" Law said. He clashed his sword against Doflamingo's strings, trading several clashes with the older man that was hard for Neo to follow. "To attain that man's long cherished ambition!"
"That's what I meant when I said that you were just playing into my hands, Law!" Doflamingo said. "That crap that you call your own will or your freedom! They're all mine!"
"Shut up!" Law hissed. The two jumped away from each other and turned to reface the other. He ran towards the older man, thinking of Corazon and the day the man died. Cora… when I truly become free will be when I fulfill your dream! He held up his hand. "Room!" It's when I stop Doflamingo! "I didn't know until today that you were a Celestial Dragon! Knowing that, I want to know what do you think of Monkey D. Luffy?!" He connected to Neo, asking her to lift a stone into his hand. When she did he tossed the stone behind Doflamingo and warped himself in its place. "Shambles! What do you think of the D?!" He jutted his sword out at Doflamingo's body. He gritted his teeth when he saw Doflamingo grabbed his blade with a haki infused hand.
"That is none of your concern. Tell me, are you saying Straw Hat Luffy was led here by destiny and to come kill me, one who has godly blood in his veins?! That is very idiotic!" Doflamingo jerked on Law's sword, pulling him forward and pulling his sword from his hands. He threw the sword away and struck out at Law with his strings.
Law summoned his armament haki. Crossing his arms over his face, he blocked Doflamingo's strings. He stared at the man before him before finally admitting the truth about himself that he's kept hidden from this man for years. "I too am a D."
"So you're a D? Is that your secret name?" Doflamingo asked while unleashing barrage of furious string swipes at Law. "You're destined to be here! Is that was you're saying?!"
…
When Neo felt her wings fault due to her tiredness, she lowered herself back down the floor of the palace. Panting, she looked over at Trebol. She was about thirty yards away from him and he was starting to put himself back together again from Law's Radio Knife amputation. "Just great. At least he'll be… easier to deal with… than Doflamingo."
Trebol cheered once he had pulled his body back together. "Yeah! I'm finally reassembled!"
Neo summoned fifty of her fire crystals and surrounded the snot man with them causing him to scream in fear. She didn't think the man would enter the fight between Law and Doflamingo but she wanted to make sure he knew she was there and wasn't going to let him if he tried.
"Ah! Hey, hey! Watch it with those things! I'm not fireproof, you know?!" Trebol said.
"I know," Neo said panting a bit more than she was before. Her knees gave out of her a little bit, causing her to stumble forward a few steps. She stabilized herself and looked at him. "I'm just… making sure you… stay put."
"Protecting Law, huh?" Trebol laughed. "You can barely stand as it is."
"Shut up," Neo said. "I might be tired… but I still have enough strength and magic to take care of you… if I need to." She moved two fire crystals closer to his face. "So just stay… where you are."
"Okay! Okay!" Trebol shouted. His eyes about popped out of his head when the fire she flared up around her crystals flickered wildly at him, threatening to set him on fire. "I'll stay! I'll stay! Dofy doesn't need me to fight with or for him right now anyway! He can easily kill Law without my help!"
"He's not going to kill Law," Neo said with a harsh glare at the man. "I won't allow it to happen. If anyone is going to die here today, it's going to be you and your master."
Trebol chuckled. "I guess we shall see. Won't we, Princess Trafalgar Neo?"
Neo's eyebrow twitched when he called her a princess, but she didn't reply to him. She didn't feel like speaking to him anymore. So she kept her crystals close to him while returning her attention to the fight.
…
"So you think you can stop me because you're a D?! Because the family of D is the sworn enemy of the gods?!" Doflamingo grabbed Law's sword by the blade. "That's just superstitious nonsense!"
Law reactivated his Room.
…
"Whoa whoa, Dofy, watch out! You're in the range of Law's power!" Trebol yelled. He backed up when Neo moved her crystals closer to him. "Easy, easy! I'm not going to interfere!"
Neo scoffed at him but didn't reply. She kept her eyes locked onto Law and Doflamingo. Subconsciously, she lifted her left hand to her upper right arm and started to rub it. Come on, Law, end this, and let's go home already. I want to get back to our babies. I miss them and our home so much.
…
"Injection!" Law placed the tip of his blade to Doflamingo's stomach. I know you missed them, Neo. Just hold on a little longer. I promised I'd get you back to the crew, and I will uphold that promise. We won't die here today. We won't. We'll return to the crew and the sub. All three of us will go home soon. "Shot!"
Doflamingo slid back from the impact of Law's Injection Shot. He dropped to his right knee and coughed out blood from the hit.
"Cora was fully aware of it! If I could have defeated you just with my name, it would have been so easy! But that was just the catalyst. I'm here because Cora was just too kindhearted to pull the trigger on that day! I'm only here so I can pull it on his behalf! That's all!" Law said before rushing forward.
Doflamingo pushed himself back to his feet. He charged forward, meeting Law's sword with his strings. He pressed his swords into Law's blade, trying to force the younger man to back up. He asked, "Was this crap what you were referring to as the trigger?"
Law repositioned his sword, swiping his blade upwards towards the man's face, causing Doflamingo to jump backwards. He followed, swiping at him again. His eyes lifted towards the sky when Doflamingo jumped to his left then up on four strings before halting. He calmly adjusted his hat before returning his eyes to Doflamingo, panting from his and Neo's tiredness.
"I don't like it one little bit," Doflamingo said.
"Room!" Law spread his Room out over the entire palace. He ran towards his target and leaped into the air. Bring his blade down on Doflamingo's haki infused foot before the man roundhouse kicked him through the air.
Law felt his body slow down as Neo wrapped her winds around him. He kept his eyes of her and on Doflamingo as she gently sat him down on his feet. 'Neo, kick up some dirt to give me cover!' His body disappeared into the dust cloud when she followed his orders. Using the dirt as a cover, he moved closer to Doflamingo. He jumped out of the dirt with his thumbs in preparation for his next move. "Counter Shock!" He gritted his teeth and released a frustrated growl when Doflamingo stepped back away from his attack. He was so close to actually hitting him. He grunted when his body hit the ground. His heart skipped a beat when he remembered Neo would feel this hit too. He relaxed when the hit didn't hurt much at all and Neo was fine from it.
…
"That was so close, Law!" Trebol said. "Hey, hey! How close do you think it was, Law? Hey! Are you trying to ignore me? Hey, hey!"
…
Law stood up, his sword resting on his shoulder.
…
"Law? Law! Hey, hey! Hey, ignoring me? Are you ignoring me, Law? Law!" Trebol said.
'You could have warned me about how annoying Trebol really was.' Neo narrowed her eyebrows at the sticky snot man. She would have flared up her crystals again to silence him, but with all the fighting she had done and her constant use of her solar crystal, she was running dangerously low on magic. She had to conserve what she did have for when she needed it. 'I'm very tempted to fry him right now just to shut him up.'
'Sorry, love. I use to just ignore him like I'm doing right now. There's no point in speaking to him. He's just an idiot after all.'
'Easy for you to say, lover. You've had practice in dealing with him.' Neo mentally pouted at Law, earning a mental smirk from him.
"Law, yo, what happened to all that momentum you had from earlier?" Trebol asked. "Hey, hey! What's the matter, Law? Come on now! Try harder, Law! Try harder! You want to win this, don't you?"
'If he keeps this up, I'm going to start wishing for his death.' Neo frowned.
…
Law mentally sighed at her increasing hostility towards Trebol. Sure he knew the man deserved it, but it got him wondering if her pregnancy would cause her to be aggressive towards the crew despite how much she loved them. He didn't believe she would ever turn against them in any kind of way, but there still was the slight possibility that she could be if they annoyed her too much. He was going to have to make sure he had a talk with the crew about this. He knew they wouldn't annoy her, but a pregnancy does change a woman for a while. He was definitely going to have to talk to them about this whole thing.
…
"I'm really disappointed in you," Doflamingo said as he lifted his hand.
Law swiped his sword out, cutting off a large piece of the palace corner. "Takt!"
…
"Dofy! The rampart tower is… hey! It's flying towards us!" Trebol said.
…
"Spider Web!" Doflamingo said. He spread out his strings over the tower, catching the tower before slicing it up.
Law held out his hand, fingers extended outwards. He closed his hand, causing the smaller pieces of the debris to fly towards Doflamingo. He lifted his eyes to follow the movements of Doflamingo when the man jumped up into the air to avoid his attack. He quickly followed, jumping along the stone debris they had created. When Doflamingo tried to attack him, he warped himself behind the man. "Shambles! Scalpel!"
…
"Law! No!" Neo cried when Doflamingo grabbed Law's wrist. She summoned her crystals near Law and Doflamingo. She tired to engulf them in her elements but barely got a reaction from her crystals. She dropped to her knees. "No! Law, get away from him!"
…
"Stop repeating attacks that you know aren't going to work," Doflamingo said with a deep frown. "You've become such a gutsy, passionate little squirt. You're not looking at the big picture at all. You're doing nothing but getting hung up on the meaningless things from the past. That's why you can't seize the moment now. You haven't pulled the trigger yet. In fact, you haven't even put your finger on the trigger yet. The weaker a person is the more he gets hung up on other people's pain and then he ultimately self destructs. If you really wanted to kill me, you should have stuck to the original plan of provoke a conflict between Kaido and me. There are so many ways you can get rid of an enemy that's stronger than you are. But by thinking of Corazon, you got all emotional, and the moment you decided to strike me yourself, you fated yourself to die. Do you remember the letter from that time? Corazon was trying to save this country, Dressrosa. If only you hadn't blown it on that day… I'm sure you remember the day I'm talking about. Because you are sort of responsible for Corazon's death. With that letter maybe, the numerous tragedies that fell upon this country wouldn't have happened."
"So even you think of them as tragedies," Law said. He looked own at his left hand when it started moving.
…
"Law… Law, what's happening?" Neo asked. She pushed herself back to her feet. Her eyes remained locked onto Law. "Get away from him."
…
"You remained calm. That's smart." Doflamingo grabbed Law's left arm and pulled the younger man closer to this face. "You're right. If you ask me, whatever happened to that letter, I would've changed my plans and sat on the throne of this country anyway." Tightening his hold on Law's wrist, he forced the younger man to drop his sword. He then stretched out his right leg, pulling a string out from his pants and placing it over Law's right arm. "Everything that Corazon did risking his life, was all in vain after all."
…
"No," Neo said when Doflamingo moved his right leg over Law's arm with a string attached to it. She tired to move. She tired to get her legs to more her forwards. They wouldn't. She tried to get her wings to lift herself into air. They wouldn't. She tired to get her crystals to help. They wouldn't. "Stop… don't… get away from him."
…
"It's all up to me now!" Law said. "Whatever I do before I die is all attributable to Cora's legacy!"
"Oh yeah? What a tear jerking sentiment!" Doflamingo said. He then started moving both their bodies towards the floor, spinning them head over heals. "Whatever the tragedy or the blunder is, only the things that actually happened are written in stone! The fact that you ate the Op Op fruit and ran or the fact that you are here now after showing your teeth at Punk Hazard!"
…
"No! Stop it!" Neo shouted when the two men started to fall towards the palace floor. "Stop it, Doflamingo! Let Law go! Leave him alone!"
"Neo, look away," Law said to her through their bond.
"No! I won't! Please just stop this! Stop it! I want to go home! Law, I want to go home!" Neo pleaded. Tears gathered in her eyes before spilling down her face. She tried desperately to get her crystals to obey her. She tried desperately to wrap her winds around Law, to pull him away from what was about to happen. To pull him away from the nightmare that pounded in her head. This was what it had meant. Law really was going to lose his arm. "Stop fighting! Let's just go home! Law, please! I don't care about this fight anymore! I only care about you! So just stop this fight and take me home! I just want to go home!"
"Neo, I order you to close your eyes and turn away!" Law said.
Neo didn't want to. But her body obeyed his command like it normally did. She closed her eyes and turned away from him just before his body collided with the palace floor. A sharp ringing penetrated her ears as the pain from Law's severed arm and his pain filled cries shot through her body and her very soul. Her own right arm fell limply to her side. Her stomach lurched as she leaned down next to a broken piece of stone and emptied everything she had inside of her stomach.
Anger then flared up inside of her when she was done retching. It caused her crystals to react to her in a way that they never have before. The crystals around her stomach started to glow and pulse. They summoned more of her crystals to them. The rest of her crystals started to liquefy. They joined with the crystals that were already in their liquid form and started to spread out over her entire body. One of her earth crystals slithered out a vine from itself. It wrapped her limp right arm securely across her stomach, just above her baby bump, while securing her hand to her side. Her winds then took over and she disappeared into the wind stream.
…
"He did it!" Trebol said while clapping his hands over his head. "String Saw! String Saw! I like how you scream, Law! I can't help but drip snot! Neo feels it too! She's in a lot of pain too! I love it! I love-Huh?"
Trebol stopped laughing when he saw Neo move. He watched as she slowly picked herself up off the ground. But that wasn't what really caught his eyes. It was her crystals that got him confused. He was so confused that he just watched her crystals spread over her body, wrap up her limp arm, then as she disappeared. He couldn't even call out to Doflamingo about the weird occurrence that just happened.
…
Law screamed at the pain when Doflamingo's strings sliced right through his limb. He kicked his feet and grabbed his shoulder while he rolled his body around on the ground. It was one of the worst pains he had ever felt in his life. The pain lessened just lightly, allowing him to roll over onto his knees. He tried his hardest to push passed the pain coursing through his and Neo's bodies. He pressed his forehead to the cool ground, feeling Neo's thoughts as they drifted back to her nightmare then went blank. He had forgotten about it because of everything that's happened today. He shouldn't have. He knew Neo's nightmares and dreams had a habit of coming true when they were about him or the crew being in danger. He should have seen this coming, but didn't. He was being too careless with her again.
"I don't know if you were influenced by the other D or not, but you coming to challenge me yourself is something that's written in stone, too! That's why I forgive you! Like I forgave my biological father and brother, I'll forgive you with your own death!" Doflamingo said. He brushed back his feather coat, revealing the gun hanging at his side. He lifted it from his hip and pointed it at Law.
Law cursed at his carelessness with Neo and sat up. He started to look up at Doflamingo but paused when Neo suddenly appeared beside the warlord. His eyes widened in shock and confusion at her body and her crystals.
"Executions should be done by nothing other than lead bullets. What's the matter? I thought you wanted to pull the trigger. What happened to-" Doflamingo said but he stopped when Neo placed her hand on his wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Stop it," Neo mumbled. Her bangs hand fallen over her eyes with dark shadows. Storm clouds gathered above them, swirling together but remained eerily silent. It was like the storm itself was waiting to see what she would do.
"Well, isn't this interesting," Doflamingo said when he noticed Neo's crystals spreading over her body. "How is this happening? Cethin never mentioned that you elementals could do this with your crystals."
"Stop it, Doflamingo," Neo said.
"What makes you think I'll listen to a little brat like you?" Doflamingo asked with a grin.
"I am a princess," Neo said, her crystals reaching up to her cheekbones.
"So? You're only the princess of the elementals. I have no loyalty to you what so ever," Doflamingo said. He watched as her crystals seem to stop spreading once they completely covered her face. Only her hair, eyes, and wings remained untouched by her liquefied crystals.
"I am a princess. I am a princess who married a pirate. And I won't allow you to kill us," Neo said. She tightened her grip on Doflamingo's wrist.
Doflamingo's smile faded as her crystallized hand tightened on him to the point it actually started hurting. He knew there was no way someone as small as she was could have been able to hurt him like this. But there she was. If he let her keep this up she would undoubtedly break his wrist. He tried to pull his wrist free of her grip, but his movement only caused her to tighten her hold on him. "You little brat! Release me at once!" He swung his free hand towards her stomach.
"No!" Law shouted. His eyes widened and his heart skipped several beats when Doflamingo's fist landed on her stomach. He relaxed a bit when he noticed the man didn't cause any damage to her. It didn't even cause her to move the slightest bit.
"I won't… I won't allow you to kill us!" Neo screamed. The crystals around her body started to glow while she moved her solar crystal to Law's arm to stop the bleeding and to help heal the damage that had been done. The glow and crystals spread over her wings, changing their butterfly shape to wings shaped like an angel's. She then jerked Doflamingo towards her. Bringing up her knee, she jammed it into his stomach, causing all the air to be forced out of his lungs and blood to shoot out of his mouth. Keeping her hold on his wrist, she flapped her angel like crystal wings. With that single flap, she lifted herself and Doflamingo into the air. She swung his body around twice before slamming his back down on a piece of rubble, cracking his backbone and the stone.
…
"No! Dofy! You have no right to touch the young master like that!" Trebol shouted. He fired snot shots at Neo. He gasped when Neo lifted Doflamingo up and his attack hit his boss instead. "Ah! Dofy! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hit you!"
…
Doflamingo recovered from the hit on his back and from Trebol. He swiped his strings at Neo.
Neo released her hold on his wrist to block his strings with her crystal arm.
"What?!" Doflamingo cursed. "Those crystals shouldn't be strong enough to block my strings!"
"Then you've clearly never fought an elemental in this fashion," Neo said. She glared down at him, releasing a loud crack of thunder above them to rely her fury to everyone in the kingdom.
"You'll pay for this!" Doflamingo said. He struck at her again.
Neo, with a single flap of her wings, lifted herself into the air, easily avoiding his strings.
"Fine! If you want to run, then I'll just go back to attacking Law," Doflamingo said. He turned his eyes back to Law and smiled.
Neo's eyebrow twitched. She moved herself between Law and Doflamingo. Raising her hand up towards the warlord, she screamed and released some of her liquid crystals. "Stay away from him!" Her crystals shot from her hand like lava. Some flew passed Doflamingo while others speckled over his body and clothes.
"What?!" Doflamingo said when the liquid crystals landed on him. With his gun free hand he tried to wipe the crystals off but they clung stubbornly to him.
"Fire crystals! Flare up! Now!" Neo ordered. And on her command, they flared up.
Doflamingo tossed the gun away from him then screamed as the fire burnt his skin and his clothes. He threw his head back and dropped to his knees.
…
"Dofy!" Trebol shouted when the warlord was engulfed in fire.
…
"You better thank God that I don't have my full energy and magic," Neo said. She lifted her left hand up and clenched it, releasing another clap of thunder, this one not as strong or sharp as the last. She knew her magic was fading more and more. "If I did, you wouldn't be alive right now."
"That's a lot of big talk for someone who's running low on magic, energy, and refused to kill in the first place," Doflamingo said. He tilted his chin back down and glared at her from behind his sunglasses. "I did want to leave you alive, but if you keep defying me like this… well, I suppose I don't have to tell you what's going to happen to you."
"Defy you? You mean like this?" Neo asked before disappearing into the wind stream again. She reappeared right in front of Doflamingo. The smell of his burnt flesh forced her to gag. But she quickly pushed it aside and kicked her foot into his stomach. She then kicked her foot onto his chin, sending him flying up towards the sky.
…
"What?!" Trebol shouted. "This can't be happening! How is she able to attack Dofy like that?! She's weak! She shouldn't have this much strength to fight anymore!"
…
Those are some very good question, Law thought to himself. His eyes remained locked onto Neo as she continued her physical assault on the warlord with a barrage of punches and kicks. I don't understand this at all. How is she able to fight like this? What the heck happened to her crystals? Is this really some kind of evolution? Can other elementals do this as well? Or is this just something she did because she's a royal? Or perhaps she only did this out of desperation? I can feel her despair from when Doflamingo took my arm. That would be enough to shock a normal person and give them strength they didn't know they had. But Neo's not normal. Her connection to me is far deeper than anything I have ever heard of before. And that's not just because of our bond. She far more connected to me than that. If this isn't something an elemental, royal or not, can do with their natural abilities, then it's really something she did out of desperation. It just looks like she can use her crystals in a different way from before. This must have been why I saw her crystals liquefy before. They must have sensed this was coming and did what they had to do to prepare themselves and Neo for this. Still, it's not going to be enough. Whatever this evolution really is, it's not making her stronger. I can feel her magic draining a lot faster now. She's about completely out of magic. I don't know what we're going to do then. Doflamingo said he wanted to keep her and our child. I don't know if he'll keep that promise now that she's defied him like this. At least if one of us dies we both die. Doflamingo won't be able to get his hands on her. Either we die together or we survive this together, just as long as she and our child remains out of Doflamingo's hands.
Law looked down at the solar crystal that was healing his wound. He really wanted her to be using it on herself instead of him, but he knew she wouldn't. He was the one missing an arm and bleeding now. He sighed. At least her solar crystal had stopped the bleeding for now. He could feel its healing power on his stump. It made him feel a lot better, but it wasn't going to be able to reattach his arm. At least not like this. He needed to wrap something around what was left of his arm. Once Neo lost enough magic, her solar crystal would fade away so she could recharge. His wound could very well start bleeding again. Fishing around in his pocket, he found a bandana that he happened to be carrying around. And he was thankful that he did have it. Using his one remaining hand and his teeth, he ripped a piece of it off and tied it around his arm as tight as he could. He then glanced over his shoulder at the hole that Doflamingo's clone had created before. He wondered what Luffy was doing down there. He knew they were going to need his help if they all were going to come through this alive. "Come on, Straw Hat. I could really use your help in protecting Neo. Her magic is about to completely give out on her."
…
Neo held out her hand to Doflamingo again. She shot out her liquid crystals, spotting his skin and clothes with them again. "Wind crystals! Activate! Blow him around like a furious hurricane!"
"You little brat!" Doflamingo hissed. He tried to desperately brush off the crystals, but they stubbornly clung to him like before.
And like before, the crystals obeyed her command and blew the man around wildly. She thought she heard a string of curses leaving his mouth, but if it did happen the words were covered up by her winds. She brushed the back of her left arm over her chin where sweat was dripping down. She easily could tell that her magic was about completely gone. Her winds were still strong enough to keep Doflamingo from freeing himself, but they weren't strong enough to actually do much damage. Still, she continued her relentless assault on him. When her wind crystals blew him down towards the palace, she lifted up a piece of stone to slam into whatever body part she could hit on him. Then her wind crystals faded from his body at the same time her crystals started retracting from her body. "I guess… that's it. I'm out… of magic."
Doflamingo felt his body slow down. When he felt the strong winds around him slow to a small gust, he righted himself up with the help of his strings and the clouds above. He then shot himself into the air and right at Neo.
...
"Neo! Move!" Law cried out. But it didn't do any good. They all knew she was far too low on magic to defend herself now. He only hoped that the crystals remained around her body long enough to take the brunt of Doflamingo's attack before they disappeared.
…
Neo gasped when Doflamingo appeared in front of her. She had no time to react to him as he swung his elbow towards her stomach. She didn't try to fight back as his elbow connected with the crystals on her stomach. While the crystals absorbed the hit on her, she still went flying backwards until her body collided with the stone floor of the palace. She lay there for a moment in the dust that was kicked up from her hitting the ground until realizing that she was still okay. Her crystals had stayed with her long enough to absorb the impact of her colliding with the floor but were now fading along with her wings. Only tiredness and some aches and pain were present. She rolled over onto her stomach, pushed up on her one working arm while her other remained tightly tided to her body, and look over at Law. 'S-sorry, Law. I couldn't stop him.'
'Hey, don't apologize for that. You have done more than enough.' Law thought to her with a small smile. 'He really didn't know what hit him just now. You've surprised him more than once today. I'm very proud of you. Just relax now.'
'B-but, Law… we're both… too tired and depleted to fight.' Neo's arm gave out on her and she was forced to lay back down.
'Try to conserve what little magic you have left. And don't worry. We're not completely out of this fight yet. Straw Hat is still with us.'
"Luffy," Neo said. Tears gathered in her eyes again at the thought of the man who wore her godfather's hat. He was still with them. He was only currently in his own battle down on the level below them. They weren't defeated just yet. But they needed him up here with them if they were still going to fight against Doflamingo. She tried to feel out his presence through his rubber body, but she was far too tired to find him. She could barely sense Law at the moment. Seeing movement from the corner of her eyes, she looked up to see Doflamingo had recovered from her unexpected attack. Her heart thundered hard against her chest. She wondered what was going to happen now. Was he going to come after her for what she had just done to him? She got her answer when he turned away from her and headed back towards Law. "No! St-stay away from him!"
"Don't order me around," Doflamingo said while he continued to walk towards Law. He bent down and picked something up off the ground.
That's when Neo spotted the gun that was in his hand. She should have taken it away from him when he dropped it and she had the chance. But she was far too angry at him to think about doing that. She just wanted to hurt him. And now he was going to hurt Law again. She pushed back upon her arm and tried to pull herself towards the men. "Stop it… Doflamingo! Stay away from him! Stay… stay away from us!"
"You should have thought about that before you went along with this stupid plan of his," Doflamingo said. He lifted up the gun and pointed it right at Law's chest.
"No! Stop it!" Neo screamed. "Luffy! Luffy, help us!"
As if responding to her cries, a loud bang erupted through the air and the Doflamingo double rose up from below.
"Dofy's double!" Trebol shouts as the clone turned back to strings and fell apart in the air.
"Neo! Just hold on! I'm coming!" Luffy then shouted. "Mingo! Do you hear me?! I'm coming for you!"
"Luffy," Neo said, shocked, and relieved that he had heard her.
"Straw Hat," Law said, glancing over his shoulder.
"I guess the cage was a bit too small to keep that one inside," Doflamingo said, his eyes staring up at his clone flying through the air.
…
Author's Notes: Yeah, I got it done after all. And what a chapter. Didn't think I'd get it done there for a while. Thanks all for the reads and reviews.
SarahBloomSakura: Wow. Congrats for catching up. Sounds like you had a lot of reading to do here. Glad you like it so much.
Apple Bloom: Yes, another fight for Neo here. At least she can rest, sort of, now.
Sarge1130: Yeah and exciting fight. Now Neo will be unable to fight anymore. Law really does want to order her way, but she'd refuse.
