A/N:It is only fair to note that I feel like "Antonia" would look more like what Oda drew for Law as a woman than anything, just as a reminder for those who deem that important. You're also getting this early bc I'll be busy tomorrow so there.

Five

Trafalgar dropped to the floor of the Hall of Suites as Antonia's kick knocked him out cold. His limp body lay motionless, broken, completely devoid of resistance and fight as his blood began to pool on the marble.

"Fufufu… see how we treat those who cross us?" Doflamingo chortled. He glanced over towards where a pair of guards had hold of the former King Riku, having had him watch the entire scene. "I'd like you to think very carefully about how you're going to proceed."

"All I see is you having a tantrum through your niece," the older man frowned. Doflamingo shrugged.

"Potaytoes, pohtahtoes; we only punish naughty children here." He then snapped his fingers and the guards grabbed Riku. "Throw him back in the trash with the rest of the garbage—he's seen what he needs to here." They complied, leaving Doflamingo and Antonia alone with Law.

"What are we going to do with him?" she wondered. She nudged Law with her boot to get a look at her handiwork—he must have been extraordinary if he was surviving such a beating. "Do you want me to get more information?"

"Only in the way you do best, my darling Antonia," Doflamingo grinned. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tilted her chin up so that he could look at her. "If he refuses to talk or gives you more of those lies, then kill him immediately. Don't waste too much time on trash; I need your help in cleaning up the rest of the vermin."

"As you wish, Uncle Doffy," she nodded. He walked out the door and the young woman found herself alone with their hostage. She sat down in the Heart Seat and watched him patiently.

'How did Papa choose such a pathetic weakling like this?' she wondered silently. Leaning forward, she rested her elbows on her knees and glared.

It bothered her.

"What made him choose you over me?" She didn't expect a reply and proceeded to be correct—the traitor stayed still, the only movement being that of his shallow breathing. Despite the fact she could not remember his face, there was something… off about it, as though there was tiny voice in her brain telling her that he was familiar…

…except, no… she didn't recognize him, did she? He was just a no-name stranger, who thought he was hot shit for becoming a Supernova and Shichibukai. That was not someone worth fretting over, not when there were much bigger players still in the game, and she was poised to inherit one's vast empires.

Then why, pray tell, did he wear the word Corazón on his back and a heart inked in his chest? He knew her uncle, and Uncle Doffy had clearly known him from business not Government-related, so why didn't she remember herself? What was it that made his face foggy in her memory? It was almost as though he was someone else entirely, yet on his own was someone that should have been…

…maybe, she thought, with enough coaxing she'd get the truth out of him.

Viola stared at her Den Den with abject dread. The other end of the line wasn't picking up despite the fact she desperately needed it to so. She poked her head outside of the alley she was hiding in and looked around the square—no sign of anyone that needed avoiding.

"What could be going on?" she hissed under her breath. "This is not like her…"

"Lady Viola," said a voice, startling her. She looked behind her and saw a plush toy dog, one she'd spoken with before many times, saluting her. "I've been given a report from the Patrol."

"Yes, what it is?"

"Someone saw Gladius put Baby 5 down one of the tubes that leads to the Scrap Heap," the toy said. "She appeared to be unconscious."

"Ah merda," Viola swore. She resisted the urge to kick a rock—her shoes would most certainly break. Panicking was not going to do her any favors. "Has the Patrol gotten visuals on Princess Antonia?"

"She was at the Coliseum, but since then, we're unsure." The toy frowned best it could. "Lady Viola…?"

"Yes?"

"What if… what if the princess doesn't want to be saved? Would she really force us to take drastic measures?"

"You claimed once that you remember the princess when she was first brought to the palace, correct?" The toy nodded. "Then you know how she was before—we won't let Doflamingo kill that sweet little girl for good. All we need to do is make sure she finally knows the truth."

"Lady Viola! Lady Viola!" The Human looked over to see another toy—this one a robot—running towards her, this one clearly upset. "It's the princeseta! She has met the pirate Trafalgar Law! He is being tortured as we speak!"

"Then I'm going to need a distraction while I get someone out of the Scrap Heap," Viola said. She snapped her fingers and both toys stood at attention. "Enact Plan T; I am going to need the Officer's Tower cleared for at least twenty minutes. We're going to make this count."

"Yes, ma'am!" They saluted and scurried off, allowing Viola to take out her Den Den Mushi and call Sanji. "Are you there?"

"Oui, mademoiselle," the snail crooned, a curled brow appearing above its eye. "Pardonne-moi; unfortunately I shall be out of range soon."

"Why?" she asked sharply. "You said you were going to extract them."

"My crew needs me, which unfortunately takes precedence over anything else," he replied. Honesty—it was something few gentlemen truly possessed and she could not be cross at him for it. "Robin-chwan and the mooks that are left on Dressrosa are sure to help you while I get our ship to safe waters. I will say this, though: I did get a hit on Doflamingo while setting up an opening for Trafalgar. I last saw them trading niceties, but I doubt that lasted very long."

"Were you able to tell Law anything?"

"Just that no one should worry about us." He paused, the snail passing on a contemplative expression. "Perhaps one day soon I can return to your beautiful land, mon chérie, and this dashing prince can sweep the wonderful and capable princeseta off her feet."

"Maybe one day, petit príncep," she replied. The snail blushed perversely before passing out—the Thousand Sunny was too far from shore.

Yes, with any luck, she'd be able to share a bottle of wine and a pot of paella as she asked him why how he came to have the features of some other princes she had the misfortune to be acquainted with, but that would be a different day.

Baby 5 was beginning to run out of ideas as she paced the large atrium where everyone was being held in the Scrap Heap. Normally she could figure out something to fly her way out of the chutes, but that was a no-go thanks to the seastone shard lodged in her shoulder. She puzzled and puzzled over the situation, cursing the fact that she wasn't the smart one of her siblings.

"Maybe if I lift some of you up, and you all stand on one another's shoulders?" Hajrudin wondered. Baby 5 shook her head.

"That'll create too much of a scene—I don't want to be caught again."

"We'll protect you," Cavendish offered.

"We can't let those pieces of shit get away with treating you like this," Sai grumbled. "If someone in the Happo Navy wanted to protect one of their own, then why shouldn't they?"

"It still confuses me that she is your sister," Elizabello frowned. Once it was apparent that Trebol and Sugar were not in the Officer's Tower after taking King Riku, Baby 5 had been able to impart a couple other details she felt were crucial to getting the gladiators' help: that Antonia was her sister, that their brother seemed to be allied with the Straw Hat, and that everything would make a lot more sense once they brought down Doflamingo. "You've always been presented as a lady-in-waiting or a noble officer when at court or the Levely."

"Our family situation is not normal by any means," Baby 5 replied. "Our brother is older than me, which adds more questions I can't answer here."

"Doflamingo really does bring a whole new definition to 'Royal Shichibukai'," Chinjao scoffed. "Passing up two children for their youngest sibling when that is not the tradition is more suspicious than when a Marine cooperates." He looked at Elizabello and huffed. "Maybe I should have come here with the intention of building an alliance via marriage; what do you think that prospect is?"

"You mean marrying your grandsons to Doflamingo's nieces? You'd have better fortunes finding them virginal Mermaids than getting that parfait to give them up."

"Then it's a good thing I'm already engaged," Sai scowled, not appreciating the conversation. He then noticed a noise that was coming closer from one of the pipes—someone was coming. "We got another coming down the pipe! Hajrudin!"

"On it," the giant said. He figured out which pipe the noise was coming from in time to catch the former king Riku. He put the man down, who almost instantly stormed up to Baby 5 and got in her face.

"Who is Lami?!" he demanded. "Doflamingo had his niece take off her Corazón mask and it drove a Warlord to tears. Who is this Lami and why does the Surgeon of Death think that she and Donquixote Antonia are the same person?"

Shit.

"Because they are, alright!" Baby 5 snapped back, not in the mood to hide things anymore. "I don't know what he did, but Doflamingo made it so she couldn't remember anything real from before we landed here! Your daughter and I are trying to fix it!"

"As though my daughter has enough to worry about! Is this what Doflamingo was aiming for with my granddaughter?! Brainwashing and using her existence as a torture device?!"

"Even if he wasn't, I'm sure the thought crossed his mind, not that he would have told me. I'm sure he was just waiting for when Law-nii showed up!"

"Wait…" Cavendish cut in. "So what that means is the brother you spoke of earlier is Trafalgar Law, a member of that rude, inelegant Worst Generation? That he is another one to take the Royal Shichibukai title crassly literal?"

"He's our big brother, yeah, and that's—"

Just then, an explosion shook the Scrap Heap, sending most of the people in there to the floor. A crack appeared in a high part of the wall, which Hajrudin took as his chance. The giant jumped up and wedged his fingers into the crack, causing it to crumble into a handhold utilizing the outside street.

"That's great, but what about the rest of us?" Bluegilly frowned. He and the other gladiators watched as the giant punched a hole in the wall, it possible now that he was only punching brick and mortar and not bedrock as well. As the dust cleared, a rope was thrown into the hole.

"Baby!" shouted a voice. "Where are you?!"

"Viola?!" King Riku gasped. The dust settled enough for him to see his younger daughter standing in the hole in the wall, holding onto a rope. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to get our only shot at overthrowing Doflamingo!" she shouted back. "The toys can only give us cover for so long!"

"Then let me be of assistance, so that we all might rid ourselves of this place in a more timely manner. Everyone looked to see that the red-haired, white-faced man who had been intensely silent til that moment was now standing, holding his giant brush in what almost seemed like a dramatic pose. "My jutsu allows me to draw things. Verily, now that there is an opening, we can escape posthaste."

"WHY DIDN'T YOU OFFER EARLIER?!"

Meanwhile, Antonia gasped as the Hall of Suites rumbled from the unknown explosion. It was a testament to the workmanship of the palace that nothing crumbled due to the tremors, yet it also spoke volumes about the fact her captive did not so much as twitch in reaction.

"Fuck—what was that…?!" She looked out the window and scowled—a plume of smoke was coming from below the King's Plateau, too close to be anything except at the base…

…over near the Toys' House.

"Puto infiern," she cursed. Antonia felt another tremor and looked back at Trafalgar, seeing that he was still completely unconscious. Part of her wanted to simply leave him and go see what was going on, potentially dooming him should there be another blast that ruined the building's structural integrity before he came to, and yet…

Something was still nagging her about him and she needed to understand what.

Groaning, Antonia went over to Trafalgar and hefted him onto her shoulder, pulling him throughout the palace until they were outside in the courtyard. Sure enough, there was another explosion, which made her decide to take this to the other side of the palace. She found an empty sunchair on a patio and dumped him on it.

"Come on, Trafalgar," she sneered. "Wake up."

Nothing.

Looking around, she found a discarded water bottle, still half-drank from when the Young Master last used it. She opened it up and dribbled a bit of water on his face. When he didn't move, she put two fingers on his neck and checked his pulse—heart was still beating, at least.

"Wake up." Antonia dumped the rest of the water bottle on Law's face and he sputtered awake, shocked at the fact he was now wet and staring up at a bright blue sky despite his seastone handcuffs. "That's better."

"What the fuck is going on?" he groaned, clearly in pain. He blinked some of the water away and his eyes began to look the same as before. "Lami…?"

"Guess again."

Deciding that she was not going to take any more of this than she had to, Antonia grabbed Law by the front of his coat and with one arm hefted him out of the chair and flung him against the wall. He coughed as he made impact, only fully realizing what was going on when she took a blade from her back holster and held it to his neck as she easily pinned him.

"You are going to listen to me, and you are going to do it very carefully," she warned. Law could feel the blade against his throat, moving against his hard swallow. "If you lie to me, I will have no qualms about spilling your blood all over the flagstone. Do I make myself clear?"

He nodded.

"Good." Antonia held him tighter against the wall and moved the knife so that the blade was resting against his cheek. "Now, tell me: why the fuck do I look at your face and feel as though I know you?"