Final Battle
Part Four
"You have no chance of surviving now. The Gamma Knife destroys your internal organs without any signs of an external wound," Law said. He watched tensely as Doflamingo turned his head to the right and coughed out more blood. It thrilled him a bit to see this man lying there in pain like this. "When a doctor says so, there's no doubt."
"Law! You idiot! What did you do to Dofy?!" Trebol screamed before launching himself forward.
…
Neo watched and listened as Law explained to Doflamingo what his Gamma Knife did. She already knew of course what it did since Law had explained everything to her about his powers like he had promised her that he would. She knew his powers just as well as he did. With a tired yawn, she rubbed her left hand into her eye. It wouldn't be much longer before her tiredness caused her to collapse. She hoped she could hold on until the battle was over. She knew she didn't need to fall asleep while it was still going. But then her heart jumped into her throat and her body went cold when Trebol shouted and launched himself forward towards Law. She forced herself to her feet only to drop back down to the ground. "No! Stay away from him, Trebol! Law! Look out!"
She moved to try and force herself to stand up again but stopped when Luffy shot out his leg. He caught Trebol on his side, he kicked the snot man away from Law and Doflamingo. "Don't get in his way!"
"Luffy," Neo said. She sighed when Luffy tossed her a quick smile over his shoulder before turning back around to watch Law and Doflamingo.
…
"You just gathered up a bunch of people who were convenient for you and called it a family. And your biological younger brother, Cora, who tried to stop your rampage, got…" Law said, gritting his teeth in memory of the man being shot by his older brother on that horrible day thirteen years ago.
"Yeah, that was a real shame. He betrayed me and then pointed a gun at me," Doflamingo said.
"You knew! You knew that Cora wasn't going to pull the trigger!" Law lifted up his left hand. His Counter Shock crackled between his fingers before he curled them into a fist. "But I would have been able to pull it."
"I bet you would have. You and I are the same after all," Doflamingo said with a smile.
"In this particular case, I'm fine with that. But on that day, you were the one who was suppose to die," Law said.
"Law, I have something to say to you that's as evil as you believe I am. Corazon was a real drag and an eyesore to me. He started to have a cheesy sense of justice and let his worthless feelings out," Doflamingo said.
…
"Stop it! Just shut up, Doflamingo! He might have been your biological younger brother, but you don't know anything about him!" Neo snapped. She curled her fingers into a fist, wishing she could punch him for talking about Corazon like that. Instead she pounded her fist into the floor below her until her skin split and blood trickled out of the cracks. She winced at the pain, stopped hitting her fist, and continued to scream. "Cora was a great man! He cared about people! You only care about yourself! You have no idea what it means to have a family! Or to be part of a family! So shut up! Just shut up! I don't want to hear another word about him coming from your mouth! He was a hundred times the man you'll never be!"
…
"What are you saying, Princess? You speak as if you met him," Doflamingo said. He struggled to lift his head up so he could see her. "But that's not possible considering I killed him thirteen years ago and you've only been with Law for a couple of years. You're the one who doesn't know anything about him. He was a very incompetent man."
…
"Shut up! And stop calling me princess!" Neo said with tears pouring down her cheeks. She placed her one free hand over her ear, wanting to block out the man's lies. The smell of her iron blood mixed with the salt of her tears in the air. The combination of the smell aggravated her stomach, making her feel nauseous and dizzy. Her body swayed, causing her to put her hand down on the floor to steady herself. "Just shut up! Just shut up! Cora was… Cora was…"
Luffy glanced over at Neo. Part of him wanted to go over to her and wrap his arms around her for comfort. He could see that she has had enough with this entire fight. She was clearly tired and wanted to just sleep. But he knew he needed to stay right where he was. If Trebol tried to interfere with Law's fight again, he would be able to stop him easier from this shorter distance between the two. "Hey, don't listen to him, Neo. He's just a jerk. Block him out."
Neo only nodded. She was too tired and angry to respond verbally.
…
Law's eyebrows twitched at both Doflamingo's words and how they were upsetting Neo. He wiggled his hand from the self inflicted pain she was causing them before activating his Counter Shock and lifted his hand above his head.
"When I killed him that day, it was a great load off my mind," Doflamingo said.
"Enough! I won't allow you to upset her anymore! Counter Shock!" Law slammed his hand down against Doflamingo's stomach. His attack crackled and snapped around him, emulating his fury. "Go to hell, you demon! And stay away from us forever!"
"Dofy!" Trebol cried out. He watched uselessly as Doflamingo's body writhed for several seconds at the attack ripping through his inner organs before he stopped moving and fell against the floor lifelessly.
Law sucked in tired breaths. He remained in his kneeling position beside Doflamingo's body before pushing himself to his feet. His vision blurred as his body stumbled backwards away from Doflamingo a few feet before his legs gave out on him. He dropped to his back on the floor, completely exhausted from his fight as his eyes slowly closed.
…
"Law," Neo said to herself when she felt Law's back collide with the floor. She stared over at him, tears streaking down her face as she wondered if this really was the end of the fight. She gasped when she felt his mind slipping away from her. She tried to get to her feet to go check on him, but she was still too drained to move. "Law!"
"Hold on, Neo! I'll check on him!" Luffy said as he ran over to his friend. He dropped to his knees and ran his eyes over Law's damaged body before resting them on his face. "Tra?! Hey! Stay with me!"
Law slowly felt himself regain consciousness. He could feel Neo watching him intensely and opened his eyes upon hearing Luffy's distant voice calling out for him. His vision was still blurred but cleared as Luffy's face came into focus.
"Tra!" Luffy said when he saw Law open his eyes.
"Oh, Straw Hat," Law said before gasping for more air. "You don't have to worry about me. More importantly, how's Doflamingo?"
Before Luffy could answer, Doflamingo stood up. Both Luffy and Law's eyes widened in shock from the man being back on his feet after the attack Law used on him.
…
"No," Neo whispered as she watched Doflamingo suddenly stand up mere feet away from Law and Luffy. "Why? How? Law had him. That attack… it should have ripped through his entire inner organs. No one can survive that. I wouldn't even be able to survive that even with my solar crystal. So how did he?"
…
"That's our king!" Trebol said with delight upon seeing his boss stand up.
"H-how is it possible?" Law asked in disbelief.
"If I have enough time, I can apply first aid to myself with my powers. Inside of my body right now, strings are repairing the damage you've caused to my inner organs," Doflamingo explained.
"What?" Law asked.
"It's all in how you use your powers," Doflamingo said, threading strings between his fingers in front of him. He started walking towards Law and Luffy with malicious intend radiating off his body. "It's a bit different from recovery, though. But thank you for your suicide attack."
"Luffy! Look out!" Neo screamed when Trebol shot out his snot at Luffy.
"What?" Luffy asked. He turned around too slow. Trebol's snot chain had already wrapped around his body.
"Sticky Sticky Chain!" Trebol said while he jerked Luffy away from Law.
"Stop!" Luffy cried out as he flew straight up into the air.
"Stick Stickem!" Trebol said. He brought Luffy back down and slammed him into the floor before looking back over at Doflamingo.
Doflamingo walked up to Law and stopped right beside him. He stared down at Law with a smile at how helpless the man was and how his only means of being saved was just taken away. He said, "At least I can stop your breathing."
Law scoffed at the man as he watched Doflamingo lifted up his right foot.
…
"No! Get away from him! Stay away! Doflamingo! Stop it!" Neo demanded. She summoned her wind crystals. They flickered, releasing only a small gust of wind before completely fading away. She cursed under her breath at being so helpless and useless. Then with what little strength she could find, she forced herself to her feet. She gasped, her heart took painfully sharp beats inside of her ribs, when she saw Doflamingo bring his foot down towards Law. Her feet stumbled her forward with no hope of reaching Law before a single foot snuffed out their lives. Her body automatically stopped when she saw Luffy reappear and kick his own foot under Doflamingo's, stopping the man. Ten second's later, her brain finally registered what happened. Her hand covered her mouth as she whispered her ever grateful thanks to her friend. "Luffy… you saved us. Thank you. Thank you."
…
"How dare you stop me?!" Doflamingo asked when Luffy's foot abruptly stopped him from killing Law.
Luffy lifted his eyes to the man and glared defiantly at him.
Doflamingo lifted his foot of Luffy's and said, "I was only looking to smash up Law's head!" He coated his foot in his armament haki and tried to slam it down on Law again.
Luffy coated his own foot in his armament haki and kicked at Doflamingo's foot, releasing a collision of their supreme king haki.
"What?! The color of the supreme king, colliding?!" Trebol said. "He can use it, too?!"
…
Neo lifted her arm automatically to her face when Luffy and Doflamingo's haki collided with each other. She dug her boots into the floor in an attempt to stay on her feet but was still knocked over. Her right arm slammed into the floor, but with how numb it was from Law's arm being severed, she couldn't feel it. She felt her body bounce against the ground, coupled with Law's body knocking against the floor from the haki collision, before they both came to a stop. Lifting up, she brushed her long hair out of her face. Her eyes locked onto the crackling haki while her hair flew wildly behind her until the collision died down. Her eyes then shot to Law. He was laying about twenty yards from her. She jumped to her feet, ran over to him, and dropped down beside him. Her eyes fell to his missing arm. More tears rolled down her face as she touched the tips of her fingers to his shoulder. "Law…"
"It'll be fine, love," Law said.
"How can you say that?! Our arm is missing!" Neo cried.
His heart ripped to shreds upon hearing her words. He had forgotten that she often referred to his body as both of theirs. He wanted to wrap his arms around her to help comfort her, but didn't have enough energy to even sit up. Struggling, he reached over and took her hand in his, taking her fingers off his shoulder. Despite the inappropriate time, he pressed her fingers and his ring to his lips. "It hasn't been that long since it was taken. There's still a chance I can reattach it."
"Law," Neo said. She curled her fingers around his hand. "Can you?"
"You know I never lie to you," Law said, brushing his thumb over her skin while locking his eyes onto hers. "Everything will be fine. I promise."
Neo nodded just before their attention was pulled back to the fight by Trebol's voice yelling at Luffy.
…
"Straw Hat! You're not good enough to compete with Dofy!" Trebol said, throwing his arms out to his sides. "Dofy's different! He's of a totally different caliber from you and everyone else on the planet! His birth nurtured a strong madness in him! His fate fed him anger! And they together changed this man into a perfect demon! No less, he is the ultimate evil! Dofy is the true king who was chosen by heaven!"
"So what?!" Luffy screamed before knocking Doflamingo back away from him. He threw out a roundhouse kicked that Doflamingo blocked with his haki infused fist. He used Doflamingo's fist to fling himself up into the air then threw a haki infused punch at the man. He clashed with Doflamingo with a round of fast punches and kicks. He then twirled around like a tornado and slammed his foot into Doflamingo's stomach. "Mingo!"
"Dofy is a charismatic evil," Trebol shouted out for whatever reason.
"Go to hell! Mingo! Gum Gum Eagle Bazooka!" Luffy said. He ignored Trebol's bizarre cheering and fired his attack right at Doflamingo. He gritting his teeth in annoyance when Doflamingo dodged it. "Come on!"
"Athlete!" Doflamingo said. He pressed his haki coated leg against Luffy's arms. "Don't get in my way, Straw Hat!" His haki exploded and he pushed Luffy away from him.
Luffy landed on the ground and skidded several feet. Unable to stop himself, his body broke through the remaining wall of the palace. He gasped as he flew out over the plateau that the palace was sitting on.
"Stick Stickem!" Trebol shot out his snot at Luffy before the rubber man could fly too far away. He pulled Luffy back to the palace floor and coated him in his snot.
"Huh?! What is this?!" Luffy asked. He pulled his limbs from the snot that was around his body but he was unable to free himself from the sticky mess.
"You idiot! Don't think a little weakling like you can beat Dofy!" Trebol said.
"Dang it! Let go of me! You bastard!" Luffy demanded while he continued to struggle against the stickiness surrounding him.
"Just wait here and struggle like the moron you are! Dofy will kill you in turn! First, Law, we'll start with you," Trebol said. He turned to Law and smiled. "Now, Dofy, I'll stall Straw Hat for you. Go ahead and crush Law's head while you have the chance."
Doflamingo looked at Trebol for a moment before turning and heading towards Law and Neo.
Neo gritted her teeth and growl when Doflamingo moved towards them. She pulled her hand from Law's, despite his effort to hang onto her to keep her from doing something stupid. "Neo! Don't! Come back here!"
"I won't let you hurt us anymore!" Neo said. She stepped over Law's body, placing herself between the two men. Her legs wobbled like noodles. But she refused to let them give out on her. She wouldn't permit it. "Just stay away from us!"
Doflamingo chuckled. His eyes roamed over her obviously weak body and her right arm that was still wrapped up in vines and being held snugly to her stomach. He said, "You've got to be joking. You can barely stand, Princess. And your right arm is just as useless as Law's. How do you think you're going to stand up against me like this?"
"I will!" Neo snapped. "You've already underestimated me twice today. Do you really want to do that again for a third time?!"
Doflamingo couldn't stop himself from halting at her words. His smile disappeared as he carefully observed her.
'What are you doing, Neo? It's obvious that you've got nothing left to give here.' Law eyed Doflamingo. He couldn't help but noticed how the older man was second guessing his moves towards Neo. And she was right. Doflamingo did underestimate her twice today. But he knew that Doflamingo knew she was completely out of magic and energy. Even if someone who didn't know about Neo's magic saw her would be able to tell that she was about to completely collapse from all the fighting that's been going on here.
'I know that.' Neo forced herself to control her breathing. She slowed it down enough to keep her pants from being visible to Doflamingo. 'I'm sure he suspects that I'm just bluffing. But I can't just sit there and do nothing anymore. We're completely out of energy, but Luffy isn't. At the very least, I can stall him until Luffy gets free of Trebol.'
'That's way too risky.'
'And just sitting here doing nothing isn't risky?! No! You're right! This is risky! And not just that! It's completely and totally stupid! Just like this whole entire revenge thing that you've been stuck on for thirteen years!' Neo narrowed her eyebrows in anger. She knew if she had her magic she would be brewing up a storm above them. But she didn't even manage a small gale. She could feel nature wanting to react to her fury. She just had no way of connecting to it so it would match her mood. However, her mood didn't last long. Her tension and her anger relaxed from her body when she felt Law flinch at her sharp words. 'Oh, Law, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just… I mean… I know how important Cora was to you. And I can understand why we came here. I really do. I'm just… it's just that I'm…'
'It's okay, love. I know you didn't mean it. You're just tired from everything and want to rest.' Law's eyes floated over to her back since he couldn't look at her stomach from her position between him and Doflamingo. He knew this outburst was just another mood swing from her pregnancy coupled with everything that's happened. He didn't blame her for anything she said. He could feel she was truly sorry for her words. And that was good enough for him.
'It's not okay. None of this is.' Neo exhaled. She locked her eyes back onto Doflamingo and regained her glare at him.
'I know, I know.' Law's eyes moved off of her and onto Doflamingo when the man finally addressed them again.
"Tell me something, Princess. How exactly is Law's missing arm affecting you?" Doflamingo asked.
Neo swallowed. Suspicion flooded her senses at his question. Why would he stop his assault on them to ask something like that? Despite the fact that she would die with Law, if Law did somehow die without her their shared pain wouldn't matter anymore. So was this just a trick of some sort? No way it could be of real, pure curiosity.
"Your arm seemingly became useless when Law lost his. Can you really not move your arm anymore because he no longer has his?" Doflamingo said. "Or is this more like a phantom pain? You only think you can't move your arm because of this sweet little bond thing you have going?"
"What difference does that matter?" Neo asked. "You just want to kill him."
"That's true," Doflamingo said, his smile returning to his lips. "I was just curious that's all."
"Curious?" Law asked, his voice dripping with doubt.
"That's right, Law," Doflamingo said. "I was just curious because I had the nice through of ripping the rest of your limbs off."
Both Neo and Law flinched at his words.
Doflamingo chuckled. "I know you two are connected. And you know I said that I was going to keep her and what she carries inside of her. I just don't want to damage my prize too much before I have the chance to properly use her like I want. Remember what I asked you before, Law?"
"What are you talking about?" Neo asked.
Law blinked. He tried to figure out what the man was talking about. Technically, Doflamingo has asked him a lot of questions today. So which one was he talking about?
"I asked you if she satisfies your needs as a man," Doflamingo said.
Law felt his body temperature drop. Of course it had to be that question.
"Since it's obvious that elementals and humans can create offspring together," Doflamingo said, his smile pulling wider across his face. "Just imagine the type of family I could build with her. I'm already a powerful man. I would literally be unstoppable with an army of elementals at my disposal."
"Don't you dare even think about touching her like that!" Law hissed, his heart throbbing erratically inside of his chest. The mere thought of Doflamingo touching his love like that got his blood boiling. He clenched his hand, his fingernails pierced into his skin, drawing more blood from his body.
Neo stumbled back away from Doflamingo. Her legs gave out on her as she turned halfway back to Law. Her own body temperature plummeted from the man's words and her mind went completely fuzzy. Her hand shot to her mouth to cover the involuntary gags that left her.
"Don't listen to him, Neo! He won't take you away from me! I won't allow him to touch you like that!" Law said though he doubt his words were reaching her at all. And despite the fact that he knew they both would die if Doflamingo did manage to take his life, he knew all too well that her top fear in the world was being taken away from him. That coupled with have sex with another man would send her over the edge. He could feel her mind slipping away from him just from the mere words of the actions. There was no more time left. He had to get her away from Doflamingo. Now. He wracked his brains for a plan on how to do just that. 'Just hold on, Neo! I give you my word on my life that I won't allow him to touch you like that! No man will! Your body belongs to me and only me!'
"It's time for you two to say your farewells to each other," Doflamingo said while he started to walk closer to them.
…
"Hey! Don't you dare do it, Mingo!" Luffy said. He struggled and kicked furiously against the snot holding him down. "I'm the one you're suppose to be fighting! So fight me! Tra can't even move one millimeter now! And Neo doesn't belong to you! She belongs with Tra! Stay away from them both! I won't allow you to separate them in any kind of way!"
"Will you hold still, Straw Hat? Dofy will kill you once it's your turn," Trebol said. He looked down at the young man he was holding in his snot. "Struggle all you want. You're not going to get free from me."
"Just shut up! This stupid jerk is so icky!" Luffy snapped. He pulled his hand from the snot and flicked it.
"I'm not icky! I'm sticky!" Trebol shouted.
Luffy, with all the strength he could manage to summon, pulled himself away from Trebol. He managed to pull away enough to turn around. He pulled back his fist and punched a large hole in the man's body.
"Oh, you got me," Trebol groaned as he leaned forward. He dropped his head in front of Luffy and smiled, causing the rubber man to scream in shock. "Or not! Not a chance, Straw Hat! I told you that it was no use! You can't even escape me unless I want you to escape!"
"What?! Why is that?!" Luffy asked while looking over his shoulder and through the hole he created. "I thought I could hit a logia eater with the color of arms! My punch was solid! It should have damaged you!"
"Well, now, do you think that my power is the logia type?" Trebol asked. He leaned back over to Luffy and closed up the hole before straightening up his body. "Either way that crap doesn't work against me! You are such a rubber idiot!"
"Straw Hat! He's right. It's no use! He's nothing but a papier-mâché bastard!" Law said.
"P-p-papier-mâché?!" Trebol demanded.
"More than anything, I didn't want to sit on the heart throne because I didn't want to be associated with these idiots!" Law said.
"I-Idiots?! Did you really just call us top executives idiots?!" Trebol demanded.
"It seems like you can still talk after all," Doflamingo said.
"What are you saying, you half dead moron?! We top executives are the very foundation of the family! I'll never forgive anyone for making fun of us! Stick Stickem Launcher!" Trebol pulled his snot together, covering Luffy, before firing several snot spheres towards Neo and Law. The spheres shot up into the air and rained down on the two helpless pirates.
"Law! What's happening?!" Neo asked when a couple of the spheres knocked her down to the ground, bringing her back to her sense. She landed on Law's arm and managed to grab the front of his coat before getting completely pinned down by the snot. "This stuff is disgusting!"
"Just bear with it!" Law said as the sphere shower continued.
"Stop it! Tra can't even move! Just leave them-" Luffy said before Trebol's movements cut off his voice and caused his body to flow over the snot like a bumpy waterslide.
"Law, you bastard! I got to teach this brat a lesson! Move, Dofy! Listen, Law! Dofy will always be the absolute king!" Trebol said. He moved closer to Law and Neo while covering up Luffy with more of his snot. He placed his hand on Doflamingo's shoulder before proceeding past him. Once close enough to his prey, he pushed up his sunglasses and glared down at the two pirates with his light brown eyes. "But there is no gap at all between him and us current top executives! That's because one day thirty some years ago, we four picked up this immense gift that fell from heaven! We gave him power and brought him up to be a charismatic force for evil! We set up Dofy as a king and showed our dignity to our subordinates! But Dofy and we four have been thinking of the family equally and brought it to its present level! Like a true family! Do you understand that, Law?!" Trebol danced around Doflamingo while he gave his speech on how they raised Doflamingo to be the monster he was today. "Do you remember that my mucus is flammable?" He popped open the top of his staff like it was an everyday lighter. "I can shut your annoying mouth up instantly."
Neo eyed the flame at the top of Trebol's staff from her spot on the floor. If she could just get enough magic back she could remove Trebol or even just his flame without any trouble. Concentrating hard, she tried to reconnect with her magic. But it was useless. She just didn't have enough magic back yet. And it made her feel extremely useless.
"A true family?!" Law asked. "Equally?! It's only you guys who think that, Trebol! He only cares about his own ambition! It's the only thing that means everything to him! He doesn't care about you guys at all!"
A loud clank resonated through the air when Trebol slammed his staff onto the floor. "What… what did you say?!"
"How pathetic! To me, even you, who acts like you're the chief of staff, only looks like Doflamingo's clownish puppet!" Law said.
"C-c-clownish puppet?! I won't forgive you for that!" Trebol headed back towards Law and Neo. Once he reached them, he look down upon them while his snot hung grossly from his nose.
"Hey! Don't fall for it, Trebol!" Doflamingo said.
"Room!" Law said and his blue sphere spread out over their bodies.
"Watch it, Trebol! You're inside of Law's Room now!" Doflamingo said.
"This brat is barely alive as it is and I have already restrained his movements with my mucus in addition! What can he do to me in these circumstances?! I'm not going to blow you up! I'll shut your smart mouth in the cruelest way I can think of!" Trebol said. He pointed the end of his staff towards Law's face. "Now, open your mouth!"
"Stop!" Luffy said, popping out of Trebol's snot only to have more cover him.
"You insolent brat!" Trebol pressed his staff to Law's chin and opened his mouth.
"Stop it!" Neo said as she struggled against the snot. She released Law's coat, pulled her hand free, and grabbed onto the staff. "Just go away!"
"I'll shove this into your throat and impale you!" Trebol said. He jerked his staff out of Neo's hand and lifted it high above his head.
"Stop!" Luffy said.
"I'm a captain of a ship, too! If I leave both you and Doflamingo in Straw Hat's hands, I'd lose my dignity!" Law said. 'Neo, stay down. I'm about to move my severed arm and sword.'
'Okay.' Neo tucked her hand back down against Law's body.
"You can't even move the tiniest little bit! What do you think you can do in this position?! You stupid little worm! Go to hell!" Trebol said. He jammed his staff towards Law.
"Takt!" Law lifted his index finger towards the sky. Using his powers, he pulled his severed arm and sword to him.
"What are you doing?!" Trebol asked upon seeing the blade flying towards him. "The sword?!"
The blade flew passed Law and Neo and plunged into Trebol's stomach. Law called out his attack, "Sterben Blade!"
"Ah!" Trebol cried out when the blade spun against his stomach, forcing his blood to spew from his body.
Neo shut her eyes just before the blade embedded itself into Trebol's body. She exhaled at the sound of Trebol's voice crying out from the cut and from the smell of his blood that flowed through the air. The smell made her stomach churn again. She switched to breathing out of her mouth until she could get her stomach to settle back down.
"What?! What happened?!" Luffy asked after he crawling out from Trebol's snot. His hand landed in warm, sticky blood. "Blood? Tra cut him with the sword and was able to make him bleed!"
"You… you got him," Neo said through her pants. Unable to stop herself, she opened her eyes and watched as the snot around Trebol's body turned completely blue and slid down to the floor, revealing the long cut in his stomach, and the size of his real body. "His clothes were just snot too, except his boxers. Oh geez. I'm never going to be able to get this out of my head."
Law frowned. Letting Neo see another man in his boxers wasn't part of his plan. She rarely ever saw the rest of the crew in their underwear as it was. He only wanted her to see him in his boxers.
'Really, Law? You're getting jealous over this? I'm appalled at seeing his underwear.'
'Appalled or not, you're only suppose to look at my boxers. I'm ordering you to look away from him.'
'Fine. I'm looking at you now.' Neo turned her eyes to Law and smirked.
'Good.' Law huffed.
"What?! What the heck is that?!" Luffy asked upon seeing Trebol's real body. "A real scrawny guy popped out of the mucus! That's why my punch when through his body!"
"Curse you, Law!" Trebol said through painful gasps. He pressed his hand over the cut on his stomach in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
"What an idiot!" Doflamingo said.
"I can't believe you used your disembodied arm! How annoying! When it comes to this… Law… you and your lover will die with me!" Trebol turned his staff around so the flame was pointed right at his flammable snot.
"I said I wanted her alive!" Doflamingo said.
"She's not worth the trouble, Dofy! She'll defy you then entire way!" Trebol said. "I'm doing you a favor by killing them both!"
"Oh crap! He's going to light it!" Law said.
"Law!" Neo grabbed onto Law's coat and tightly closed her eyes.
"I'm taking you two along with me!" Trebol said before touching the flame of his staff to the snot at his feet. The snot instantly caught fire. It spread around them, engulfing them in the heat.
"I can't stop it!" Neo said when she couldn't summon her fire crystals or connect herself to the blaze. For once in her entire life, she actually feared the most feared element on the planet. "Law! What do we-" Before she could finished, she felt something simultaneously ram into her sore body and pull her off the ground. Next thing she knew she could feel her body and Law's being hurled through the air and a loud explosion went off around them causing their bodies to be pushed along faster through the air. Soon the heat around them cooled off a bit and she noticed that someone familiar was holding her. The rubber element she sensed was too familiar for her to misplace it. She opened her eyes to find Luffy had saved them and were flying through the air. She pivoted her body in his hold and threw her one good arm around his neck. Fresh tears poured down her cheeks. "Luffy!"
"Hey," Luffy said with a smile. He tightened his arm around her waist, bringing her even closer to him. "It's okay. I've got you now."
"Thanks, Luffy. But where's Law?" Neo said. Too upset to sense him, she darted her eyes around until they landed on Law. She relaxed a bit to find he too was finally away from Doflamingo and Trebol but panicked when she found he was unconscious. She moved her arm from around Luffy's neck and reached for him. Placing her fingertips on his cheek, she called for him. "Law?! Please, wake up! Please?!"
"Hey, now, don't cry. He'll be all right. He just passed out from all the fighting he's been doing," Luffy said. He glanced down at Law then back to Neo. "Besides, you should be more worried about yourself. What were you thinking coming into a fight like this while pregnant?"
"What?! Not this again! How many times do I have to tell you I'm not pregnant before you'll listen?!" Neo said. She narrowed her eyebrows at Luffy and frowned. "Really?! Why do you keep saying that?! Law was preventing that from happening!"
"Well, I guess that's something you'll have to discuss with him since that clearly didn't happen," Luffy said.
"What do you mean by-Uh! Doflamingo's still alive!" Neo started to demand Luffy tell her why he kept going on about her being pregnant. But she was cut off when she saw the man coming out of the fire towards them.
"I know," Luffy said. He tightened his arms around his friends in a protective manor but also to make sure he didn't lose his grip on them. "Don't worry about him anymore. I'll take care of him from this point on."
"You're going back to fight him alone?" Neo asked, worry flooded into her voice as she looked at her friend.
"Yes." Luffy nodded.
"But you can't do that! You've been fighting all day! You can't take him on all by yourself!" Neo insisted. "Please! I'm tired of seeing my friends get hurt! Can we just leave now?!"
"Neo." Luffy looked at her worried expression. He really wasn't sure what he could say to her that would make her feel better. He knew what he had to do. He knew they couldn't just walk away from this now. The Birdcage was still above them after all. "I'm sorry, Neo. We can't. Even if we did walk away from this fight, there's nowhere for us to go. The Birdcage is still above us. The only way out of this is to stop Mingo."
Neo twitched. She lifted her eyes to the Birdcage above them. He was right. She had completely forgotten all about that abomination. She had completely forgotten they were trapped inside of it. She dropped her teary eyes from the strings and pressed them into Luffy's shoulder. "No… I can't… take this anymore… I just… want to go home."
Luffy gritted his teeth. He hated seeing his friends cry, especially one like Neo. He tried to figure out his own way of comforting her. Words didn't seem like they would hold much meaning right now. So what else could he do for her? Then it hit him. There was one thing he could give her that might help ease her pain until he finished the fight with Doflamingo. "Hey, there's something I want you to take care of for me."
"What?" Neo asked. She pulled her eyes from his shoulder and looked at him.
"My hat," Luffy said.
"What?" Neo kneaded her eyebrows in confusion, wondering if she had heard him correctly or if her hearing got damaged in the fight.
"I want you to take care of my hat for me while I fight," Luffy said while he watched her eyes drifting to the straw hat hanging from his neck. When he noticed she was hesitating and still confused to actually take it, he gave her a bright, reassuring smile. "I want you to take it. I want you to keep it safe for me. Can you do that?"
"But I… I suppose so. If that's what you really want me to do," Neo said.
"It's what I want," Luffy said with a nod.
Neo returned the nod with a slow one of her own. Reluctantly, she pulled Luffy's hat off of him and placed it around her neck. She then pressed her forehead to his right temple while cupping his left cheek in her hand. "Please, be careful, Luffy. I don't want to lose you."
"Don't worry, Neo. I promise you won't lose me or anyone else," Luffy said. He tightened his arm around her and leaned into her forehead. "Just take care of yourself and Tra from this point on and leave Mingo up to me."
"Okay," Neo said with a soft sigh.
"Luffy! Let me take Neo and Tra from here!" Robin called up to them, breaking their tender moment.
"Robin!" Neo turned her eyes down to her other friends. She felt so relieved that her friends were alive and didn't look like that had accumulated much damaged in their own battles. She could and would heal them later.
"Robin! Thanks a lot! Here! Take them! They've done their part in stopping Mingo! And be extra careful with Neo! She's pregnant!" Luffy said before tossing his friends down to Robin.
"I'm not pregnant!" Neo said as she fell from her stubborn friend.
"Oh no! His arm!" Robin said, bring Neo's attention back to their fall. "Cien Fleurs! Spider Net!"
"Robin," Neo said after she and Law landed safely in the woman's net.
"Lawland's arm is…" Leo said.
"Neo," Robin said. She lowered her friends to the ground before rushing over to them. She dropped to her knees, wrapped her arms around Neo, and hugged her. "Neo, are you all right?! What happened to your arm?! Are you injured?! What happened to you up there?! Nature went completely crazy before! I was so worried about you!"
Neo nodded in response as she let Robin hold tightly onto her. Tiredly, she said, "I'll… I'll be fine. It's only because Law lost his arm. And I didn't mean to lose control. I'll have to explain about that later. We really don't have the time right now."
Robin nodded in acceptance to her friend's answers. She then turned her eyes down to Law's missing arm. Her hold on Neo tightened protectively around her from seeing all the damage they had suffered. "How could they do this to you two?! Tra, stay with us!"
"He'll… he'll be okay," Neo said through a couple of sniffles. "He's lost a lot of blood, but I was able to stop that with my solar crystal before I lost too much magic. He's not dying. Neither of us is."
"That's good to hear," Robin said with a relieved sigh. She pulled back from Neo and cupped the younger woman's cheeks. She sighed again from seeing the mental toll this was taking on her young friend. "You poor baby. You are extremely tired, aren't you?"
Neo nodded.
"Nico Robin!" Doflamingo said, heading towards the Straw Hat and Heart pirates. "Don't do anything stupid! Law's still breathes! He hasn't been dismissed yet from my crew! And I'm taking Neo from this point on!"
"Doflamingo!" Kyros pulled out his sword.
"That jerk! He's still going after Tra and Neo!" Luffy said, still suspended in the air.
"And here is the finisher!" Doflamingo pointed his finger towards Law.
"Gum Gum…"
"Bullet String!"
"Hawk Whip!" Luffy cursed when he didn't move quickly enough and Doflamingo's attack flew towards his friends. "Neo! Tra! Robin!"
Robin pulled Neo in closer to her body in an attempt to protect her pregnant friend from more harm while she leaned over Law.
"Precious Metal Axe!" Cavendish shouted. He jumped in suddenly and deflected the strings away from the injured.
"It's you," Neo said when she lifted her eyes up to the blonde man protecting them.
"Cabbage!" Robin said.
"I'm sorry. I'd been sleeping until a little while ago," Cavendish said to the women before glaring up at Luffy. "Haven't you settled this at all, Straw Hat?!"
"Neo! You're hurt!" Rebecca said as she ran over and knelt down to her blue haired friend. She ran her eyes all over Neo before letting her eyes rest on Neo's. She reached, forgetting Neo didn't like to be touched, and brushed her bangs away from her face. "You poor thing."
"I'll be fine," Neo said tiredly. She knew she could trust this girl, but a small part of her still wanted to pull away from the unfamiliar touch. But she was too tired to move and didn't really even care that Rebecca was so close and touching her.
"Cabbage!" Luffy then shouted. "Take everyone and get off this plateau!"
"No way! Since Doflamingo has seen me here, I must cross blades with him!" Cavendish said.
"No! I need you to take care of everyone and get them away from here!" Luffy looked over his shoulder and down at the blonde man.
"Leave them in my hands?! Trust… respect… popularity! Straw Hat's my fan!" Cavendish said. "My fan is asking me for a favor! I can't turn it down!" He turned to Robin. "I know Bartolomeo is still on the lower level! Let's go down there now using his powers!"
Neo moved closer to Law when he gritted his teeth in pain. She reached out and brushed the back of her fingers against his cheek. "Law, just hold on. You'll be okay."
"Can you treat him somehow, Leo?" Kyros asked.
"Huh?" Neo turned her eyes to the man then noticed the little Tontatta on Law's chest. "You… you're a…"
"That's Leo," Kyros said. "You have nothing to fear from him."
Neo wanted to glance up at the man but her eyes refused to move from the little creature that was kneeling on her lover's chest.
"The cut is ragged. If I can manage to sew them together," Leo said while he inspected the wound.
"Then I can heal him with my Watering Can," Mansherry said.
Neo then turned her eyes to the blonde Tontatta on the ground. Still through her tired state, she sensed that this one was royalty. "You… you're a Tontatta as well as a…"
"That's Princess Mansherry," Kyros said, unaware of Neo's ability to sense royalty.
"Thank you, Princess Mansherry," Rebecca said, gesturing to Neo with her hand. "If it's not too much trouble, could you give Neo some of your healing powers too?"
"Yes, of course," Mansherry said. She held out her hands and smiled sweetly at Neo when she saw Neo's worried eyes. "It's all right, Neoland. This will help you feel better."
"O-Okay," Neo said with an unsure nod. She watched as a little glow formed over the Tontatta's hands and flowed over to her. Instantly she felt better when the glow entered into her body, but not completely.
"Oh, I'm sorry. It looks like I can't heal you completely for some reason," Mansherry said when she noticed Neo was still hurt and tired. She collapsed her hands in front of her dress, her eyebrows curling up in worry.
"It's all right," Neo said. "That's probably because I'm magic."
"Magic?" Mansherry asked.
"Yeah. It's a long story." Neo nodded. She then summoned her solar crystal and washed its healing glow over herself and Law. "But you did heal me enough. I have enough magic and energy now to reactivate my solar crystal. I can heal us with this now. Thank you very much for your help."
"That's good to hear. Anyway, we'd better do as Lucy says and head down," Rebecca then said, eyeing the solar crystal with peaked interest. She hoped she could ask about that later since now wasn't the time for in depth answers for anything.
"Here! Let me take him now!" Cavendish said when he rejoined Neo and the others. He knelt down but didn't do anything yet. "I'll carry him down if it's all right with you."
"Yeah. That will be fine," Neo said. She summoned a wind crystal. She could feel that the pollution was almost completely out of her system, but she was still shaky with how much magic she had lost. She decided it would be better to let Cavendish take Law instead of trying to risk flying him. She banished the wind crystal and placed her hand on her right arm. "I still don't have enough magic to use my crystals properly."
Cavendish nodded and pulled Law into his arms.
"Can you stand?" Rebecca asked Neo.
"Yeah." Neo nodded. She grabbed Law's sword and rose to her feet before following after Cavendish. They all paused from a loud noise near by. They turned and saw that part of the palace had collapsed from Luffy's battle. "Luffy…"
"He'll be alright. Let's go," Robin said when she joined Neo's side. She put her arm around Neo's waist, guiding her away from the palace as Rebecca and Kyros rushed ahead of them.
"Wait!" Law suddenly said. He lifted his shaky hand and grabbing onto Cavendish's coat.
"Trafalgar, you're awake," Cavendish said, looking down at the man in his arms.
"Leave us here," Law said.
"What are you saying?!" Cavendish asked.
"For the past thirteen years, I've been living the majority of my life just to kill Doflamingo," Law said. He tightened his hold on Cavendish's coat. "I've done… everything I can. I have to leave the rest up to Straw Hat. If he's going to win, then I want to see it with my own eyes. If he loses, I should be here to die along side him. I got him involved in this conflict. I've got to see this through with my own eyes. Leave us."
"Trafalgar," Cavendish said.
"Tra, the captains of an alliance are on equal grounds. Luffy doesn't participate in a fight unless he wants to," Robin said.
"Leave us here," Law said again. "I'm begging you."
Cavendish studied the determination in Law's tired eyes. He sighed then laid Law back down on the ground. "It doesn't appear that I can talk you out of this. Nico Robin, you go ahead."
"Cabbage," Robin said.
Cavendish sat down and pressed the tip of his sword to the ground. "I can't listen or comply to a suicidal wish. So I'm stay here, too. I can't fathom why you two want to die, but if you do then it will be after I do. That's the compromise."
"Robin!" Rebecca called from the edge of the plateau. "Bartolomeo made the stairs for us!"
"Go," Cavendish said while pulling off his coat. He then held it up to Robin. "You can wear this. You have to go, Nico Robin. Let me look after them from here."
"Robin! You're hurt!" Neo said when Robin looked over her shoulder at her wounded back. She spread her solar crystal's glow over her female friend. "I'm so sorry! I didn't even notice! Why didn't you say anything?!"
"It's all right, Neo. It's really not as bad as it looks," Robin said, placing her hand on Neo's shoulder. She then looked down at Law who gave her a nod saying it was fine to leave them here. She reluctantly accepted his wishes. She took the coat from Cavendish and put it on before pulling Neo back into her arms. "Save your solar crystal's magic to heal yourself and Tra. You two need it the most."
"Robin," Neo said. She dropped Law's sword on the ground and tightening her arm around the woman's waist.
"I'll see you in a little while," Robin said before finally pulling away from Neo. She smiled and brushed her younger friend's tears away with a soft smile.
"Okay." Neo nodded.
"Robiland!" Leo said with Mansherry and Cub standing right beside him. "We'll stay here, too. We can't leave the wounded Lawland here like that."
"Right. Take care of him," Robin said before following after Rebecca and Kyros.
Neo reached down and picked Law's sword back up before moving over to Law's left side. She dropped herself and the sword onto the ground while her eyes wandered back to the Tontattas. "Can you really help him?"
"We will try, Neoland," Leo said.
"Leo is very good at sewing things together," Mansherry said with a smile. She held out her hands towards Neo. "If anyone can fix Lawland's arm, it will be him. Trust us."
Neo studied the little people before her before reaching out her finger and placing it between the Tontatta princess's tiny hands. "I do."
…
Author's Notes: Storms might delay the next chapter until next week. We're supposed to have them pretty much everyday this week and we'll have to unplug the Internet if they get severe.
Apple Bloom: Another tear scene you say? Hmmm?
