Well, I'm sorry this is coming out so late, but as a consolation, it's also quite a bit longer than your average chapter. A LOT happens all at once, so I hope you all are ready. Thank you for your support: Alison Carrillo, Andrew Bohl, Animephilosopher1, Ankhseram123, Anna Khuu, anony, Ant Franklin, Cam Bliss, Claude Walker, Cordell Sanders, Cory Johnston, Darko129, David, Daemon Targaryen, David Bowling, David Reynolds, Emi Stafford, Eugene Malone Jr., EvilJelly, Fenrir ragnarok, Garvin Lee Nelson-Mathlin, GODA98, Immagenius, Inucbus, Javier Andres Estrada, JEP1010, Jkat, John Mekjian, Jonathan Moh, Joseph Baty, Joseph Morrison, Joseph Vargas, Joshua Groves, Karen Carrillo, Kcx1, kevin Calderon, Korakas, Lamont Hale, MAEGHT Maxime, Majin buu, Marielle Orff, Matt Walther, Matthew Burley, McBanjo, Mcgin28, Michael Enqvist, Milagros Peres Davila, Milla, Pez, Powerful Loki, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Richard Barkley, Riley Bolerjack, Ryuu, Sasha, Shaun Guard, Siddiq Morris, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, and ViewtifulSoul!

Let's get started!

Chapter 69:

Cliffhanger

Hand-to-hand fighting was not Coby's forte. That was not to say he didn't have some experience given how many fights he had to break up while working for the Red Embers back on Sabaody; it was bad business to maim customers, after all. Still, the skill disparity between a civilian —or even a Paradise pirate— drunk and the key-man left Coby wanting. Several times already it was only Grace's timely intervention that saved him from losing a limb. She'd already tried crafting replacement swords out of argon for him, but such broke easily unless Grace spent all her focus maintaining them, something that would leave her vulnerable to outside interference.

"You're holding back," Grace commented, Zekiel Jone backhanding a pair of thrown argon daggers with ne'er a thought.

"What makes you say that, Magpie?" the man grinned.

"Because you're having fun," Grace replied. "I've seen you when you're serious. You never give everything until you're backed into a corner."

"I suppose that's true." Coby ducked under another swipe of five razor-sharp key-fingers, the Zoan rolling backward before digging his paw into the ground to slow himself. Zekiel chuckled. "Why give it all when I don't need to?"

"You don't actually care about Doflamingo, do you?" Coby tried. The man charged forward, his hands and forearms turning into massive keys that Coby caught with the crossed arms of his Armor Mode. "This is all a game to you, and you're just working for the man who pays you the most."

"Well, yeah," the King of Arts shrugged. "Life is for living. It's too short to take anything seriously."

"If only that were true," Coby frowned. He kicked forward, Doflamingo's thief lacky barely jumping back in time to avoid it. Grace appeared behind him, her argon katars aiming for his hamstrings only for the man to leap upward, spinning over her like an acrobat at a circus.

"Besides, it's not like you two are giving me everything you can, either. I can tell you don't have what you need."

"If we had what we needed, Arts, you'd be an easy fight," Grace muttered.

"Oh Magpie, I'm hurt!" Zekiel called melodramatically. "Mortally wounded! To think you think so little of me!"

A growl rumbled in the back of Coby throat, his eyes narrowing. He shifted into his Dino Mode and charged without a word. The thief must have felt the vibrations of his footsteps because his hands changed into keys just in time, catching the pirate Zoan's horns. Even so, Coby's momentum drove him backward, his shoes failing to find grip on the grassy plateau. He yanked himself upward, rolling over Coby's crown and back and down his tail, smile gone. Coby turned, skidding to a sideways stop near the ledge.

"Were you trying to kill me?" Arts questioned. "I'm not just seeing a Colonel Baird; you were actually trying to push me off the edge. Not cool."

"You would have been fine, unfortunately," Grace groused, unsure if Coby had known such. She'd seen Zekiel use his key-fingers to climb walls before, so he would have probably been able to survive a fall off the sheer cliff of the plateau. Still, Coby was acting more aggressive than usual, but she'd chalked that up to him being weaponless. Even so, she hadn't expected him to try a stunt that had the potential to kill the thief, slim though she knew the chances to be. She kept Zekiel in her sight while studying her crewmate and lover out of the corner of her eye.

"You two sure woke up on the wrong side of the bed," the male thief grunted.

"Yeah," Coby muttered in as much a hiss as he was currently capable of. "That tends to happen when you and your friends are tortured by a homicidal madman pretending to be a king."

"Now let's be honest, you kind of brought that down on yourselves."

"You talk too much, Arts," Grace said, turning the man's attention to her.

"Can't help it, the sound of my voice—" His words died, his hands going to his neck as he gaped. Grace's eyes narrowed, the young woman with her hands outstretched toward the other thief as she pulled the oxygen from the air around him. He dove to the side just as his face began to turn blue, sucking in a massive breath as he rolled. "Not cool, Magpie."

"Isn't the point of a fight to hurt each other?"

"No, it's for me to have fun while Trebol takes the boring job."

"Sorry, I didn't know we were here to entertain you, Arts," Grace scowled. "Our crewmates, our Nakama, are in danger from a Warlord that called out our captain two years ago at Marineford. We don't have time for you."

"You're no fun anymore, Magpie."

"Too bad." Zekiel only had time for his eyes to widen before Coby's hand was on his face, Zoan fingers hooking under his chin and cheekbones. Coby yanked from his position behind their opponent, dragging him up in an arc before slamming him down on the other side. The native of Down Under hacked, his hands gripping at Coby's for a moment before he remembered his powers.

Sharpened keys stabbed into the back of the swordsman's hand, his instinctive flinch giving Zekiel just enough leeway to wiggle out of the fingers and roll away, barely avoiding the cocoon of argon that came for him, the man coming up by the three previously-downed Doflamingo pirates. He frowned, blood dripping from his nose.

"You two are pissing me off."

"You say that like we're supposed to care," Coby grunted. "Frankly, after what Grace has told me, I don't give a damn."

"Did I do something to you?" the lacky questioned. "I don't mean in general, I mean specifically to you. You're acting like…" He trailed off, blinking, before a smirk stretched his cheeks. "You feel threatened that I've spent more time around the Magpie than you have."

"That's not—"

"No, it is! Oh, this just got fun again! I mean, stealing another guy's girl is an art form unto itself."

"I'm not a piece of art you can just steal!" Grace growled.

"Over my dead body," Coby snarled, pawing at the earth.

"Then let's—"

"Red Hawk!" Part of the castle behind them exploded the retracting arm of the rubber pirate who had yelled the attack name causing the smoke to swirl back in on itself.

"Five Colors Yarn!" What section of the castle that had merely been cracked from Luffy's attack was shredded into four strips, the left and right sides of the new hole sliding out where the cracks separated stone from stone.

"Damn," Zekiel muttered. "I've never seen the bossman so serious as to actually name something. Your captain must've really pissed him off."

"Yeah, Luffy has that effect on people," Grace admitted. "Coby, is he—?"

"Luffy's fine, for now," the roset answered, observing more than his immediate surroundings with his Observation. "And we only need to hold out a couple more minutes."

"Are you suggesting you can outlast me?" Zekiel chuckled.

"Sure, something like that."

"We've got the stamina to go a few rounds at least," Grace offered, Coby choking on his own tongue. Zekiel's nose wrinkled, his smirk dipping.

"I don't like this kind of banter." He flashed forward, Grace bringing up a shield of argon before she was even sure that was where he would be. His key-fingers stabbed into her shield, cracking the purple crystal before hooking behind it. He squeezed.

Grace stabbed forward with her other hand, her katar aiming for Zekiel's gut. Instead, his torso itself turned into a key, the crystalline blade passing through a hole in a handle.

"Surprise, Magpie!"

"Surprise, Arts!" she shot back, her katar shattering to line his transformed torso with purple. "Liquid Crystal!"

"Fuck!" Zekiel jumped back, staring at his stomach that he could not change back for fear that would put the crystals inside him, something he did not want when Grace had full control over them. "Clever, clever, Magpie. Scary, too."

"You're lucky I don't have my acid."

"Slasher Mode: Needle Krueger!"

Zekiel spun, key-fingers sparking against bone protrusion as Coby tried to leverage his Slasher Mode's greater height. With his fingers occupied, Coby brought his whip-like tail around, slashing its barb against the side of the thief's leg. Zekiel hissed.

"Alright," he muttered. "I get it. No more games."

He squeezed, the lengthened nails of Coby's Slasher Mode hands cracking before breaking off to a one. The Zoan pulled back with a hiss of pain, narrowly avoiding the pointed key-knee that would have punctured his gut. Zekiel did not drop his leg, letting the bottom turn into a key before kicking.

"Latchkey Slash!"

Coby rolled away from the variation of Tempest Kick that cut through the air where he'd been standing, the man who had done it spinning around to throw another at Grace. She dove away, the loss of her concentration causing the Liquid Crystal to fall away and disperse.

"You're not the only one!" Coby yelled, grabbing his tail. "36-Caliber Phoenix!"

Zekiel flipped back onto his hands, one key-leg rising to parry the flying slash upward. He completed the maneuver, smirking.

"Come on, bogan! I work for Doflamingo, did you really think they'd put up with me if I couldn't hold my own?"

"Purple X!"

Zekiel spun, a key-hand catching the katars that came for his back in an X shape. Grace grunted, her specialty not being in raw strength meaning Zekiel and Coby had her easily outclassed there.

"You know, this wouldn't be the first time you've stabbed me in the back, Magpie," the man said. "It would've been the most painful, though."

"You think this is a bigger deal than that DaVichi I took from you?" Grace questioned. "I thought your pride was the most vulnerable thing you had considering it's your only thing of value."

"Ok, rude."

Grace pulled back with one hand, stabbing forward with her argon weapon. Zekiel parried, his attention having to split as Coby charged in from the side. The pair put him on the defensive, moving in to defend each other whenever he tried to get an attack in edgewise. Zekiel was forced back step by step, shallow cuts covering him one by one.

Then Grace made a mistake. She stepped in after an opening he'd left, one Coby had passed on having sensed it was a trap from his experience. His hand grabbed her wrist, Grace gasping as he twisted her around, simultaneously raising her arm while ducking under it. The twist forced her to her toes lest her arm snap, the man using her off-balance state to throw her.

"Grace!" Coby yelled, trying to smash the offending man with a double hammer fist. Zekiel dove into his guard, transformed fingers latching around the Zoan's throat. Coby froze.

"Easy now," Zekiel warned, pushing slightly. Coby moved with the momentum, backing up as the thief moved forward. The pirate tensed further when, on one step, his heel found no purchase. His hands rose, clinging to Zekiel's arm, as the man pushed Coby's upper torso over the plateau's edge. The roset shrunk into his human form, not wanting to risk the man dropping him because of greater mass.

"Coby!" Grace called.

"Ah, ah, ah," the man warned as he turned to see the young woman, Coby's feet trying to dig into what little ground he could feel as their opponent pushed him another inch. "Careful, Magpie. We don't want any happy little accidents, do we?"

"If I had my swords—" Coby started.

"But you don't," the Underian interrupted. "You winning this fight now is a Colonel Baird, a mirage you only convinced yourself you've seen. To think, this is the man the Magpie pines for."

"Who said anything about pining?" Coby grunted. Zekiel looked past him, studying the landscape and their surroundings.

"You know, I've never tried my own hand at painting, but I've seen and stolen plenty of them. I think this scene would make a pretty good one. The lighting, the colors, the drama. This could be classic by a master like Michotello or Donofiel. I'd call it 'The Death of Tri-Horn'."

"You're not going to win."

"We'll see about that."

Zekiel let go, Coby's eyes widening as gravity took hold of him. He fell. Grace screamed.

"Coby!"

"Right now, I have the pleasure of announcing your consolation show since we're cancelling your tournament! On behalf of my captain 'Straw Hat' Monkey D. Luffy and with an army formed of alliances with former Warlord 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law, the New Whitebeard Pirates, and the Revolutionary Army, I hereby declare war on the Warlord Donquixote Doflamingo for all to see!"

Thunder Soldier's wooden head shot upward at the declaration that reverberated from the snail on the table, said snail having formerly been offering the play-by-play of the fights in the Colosseum. He and the dwarves with him had been strategizing while he listened with half and ear (that he no longer had) for Rebecca's match. The Dwarves exchanged glances as the announcer on the other end of the snail fumbled for words.

"Those pirates must be crazy," Leo concluded. The Dwarves as a whole were incredibly small and the leader of their army was no exception. He wore mostly green, including a crown-shaped hat and overalls with a red tie. Like the others of his species, he also had a bushy tail and a pointed nose, his tail the same color as his shoulder-length brown hair. A sewing needle rested on his shoulder.

"Perhaps," Thunder Soldier agreed. "However, their timing is impeccable. With them taking the attention of Doflamingo's armies, we will have no better time to strike. Do remember, Princess Mansherry is not in the orchards. This is a rescue mission for those Doflamingo is making grow those cursed things."

"But we still don't know—" Bian, another dwarf but with pink hornet-like features that gave her wings and a stinger-topped thorax in replacement of her tail, began.

"Quaking Dragon's Rending Claw!"

The subsequent shattering of laws of nature was repeated twice over, once through the snail and yet again when its sheer echo reached them with the tremors caused by the attack. That was, until the second quake struck even before the aftershocks of the first finished. Thunder Solder grabbed the table as the shaking threatened to take his single leg out from under him, dwarves falling over and onto the floor from said table in a few cases.

"What magic was that?" Kabu questioned, the chubby Dwarf in yellow trying to roll back onto his front from where he'd fallen. He would have had a better time of it had he not forgotten he was in a half-transformed state, showing off the armor plating and horn of a rhinoceros beetle under his yellow clothing. A couple dwarves hurried over to help him.

"One that was apparently being offered in the Colosseum," Thunder Soldier said. "One of two these enemies of Doflamingo have taken from him. Come, now! We must be off while this distraction remains in our favor!"

"What about Rebecca, Thunder Soldier?" Leo questioned. "Isn't she in the Colosseum?"

"Rebecca can handle herself," Thunder Soldier said, directing his words more to himself than Leo. "She's done well without our help these last few years in the Colosseum, so I'm sure she'll get through this fight, too. We can't miss this chance because of worry."

"Got it," Leo nodded. He turned to his fellow dwarves, raising his sewing needle. "Tontatta! Doflamingo has held Princess Mansherry captive for too long! He has made our brethren serve in his factory with false promises of her freedom! We will believe nothing his men say! We will put our trust in Thunder Soldier and restore King Riku to the throne! For Princess Mansherry!"

"YEAH!" the dwarves cheered.

"Pink Bee Squad, ready!" Bian saluted with two of her four arms, a host of dwarves riding bees behind her.

"Yellow Kabu Squad, ready!" Kabu called, his own squad riding beetles.

"Ground forces, ready!" Leo nodded. "Thunder Soldier, lead the way!"

"With pleasure." The toy pulled out his very-real rifle and slung its strap over his shoulder before accepting a longsword from one of the dwarves, tying its sheath to his waist. He pushed off the table, balancing on his one leg and the rollerblades below, charging down one of the nearby tunnel passageways the diminutive warriors had dug over the last few years.

Thunder Soldier lead a veritable flood of tiny bodies through the underground, doing his best to ignore the aching in his toy heart.

'Rebecca,' he thought. 'Please, stay safe. This will all be over soon.'

It didn't take long for the small army to reach their entrance to the groves where the dwarves were being kept, bursting in without a moment's hesitation. Word of the battle seemed to have not reached them yet, overseers and dwarves working as they had for months. Things were different, however, a toy hunched over a table drawing blueprints with a couple of the humans. It was a mechanical dinosaur, a velociraptor though none in the attacking group knew the name, that looked up as they answered.

"Intruders?" it questioned in a robotic, monotone voice. "In my factory? How dreadful."

"Step aside," Thunder Soldier ordered, leveling his rifle in the machine's direction. "Release the dwarves from their captivity. Now!"

"I cannot do that. You have no authority here."

"I know you likely do not wish to be here, but I cannot let mercy stand in the way of my country's liberation! Tontatta, attack!"

The wave of small warriors surged forward, a number of guards trying —and failing— to respond in time. Acting under the orders of the contract that had been signed, Rapaz charged in defense of the factory, metal teeth bared. Thunder Solder fired, the bullet pinging off Rapaz's shoulder. The machine toy leapt, pushing Thunder Soldier onto his back and landing atop him. Its mouth fell, the wooden toy using his rifle to catch the bite that seemed meant for his neck.

Rapaz whipped its head back and forth, Thunder Soldier grunting as he did everything he could to keep hold of the gun. This toy was likely a victim just as he was, so he did not want to resort to killing it even if that was the easiest option.

"Thunder Soldier!" Leo called, jumping toward him in great leaps. A human worker tried to block the tontatta warrior's path only to be thrown with the dwarf's immense strength. Leo pulled his needle sword from his waist, stabbing it through one of Rapaz's hands. Before the toy could register what the green-clad dwarf was doing, he had already bounced from the hand to a shoulder, to the other hand, to the other shoulder, and to the ground. Leo ran, his so-called Sewing Magic pulling the thread he'd put through Rapaz four times first yanking hands to shoulders before dragging the robot bodily to the ground.

"Security seems oddly short!" Bian reported as Thunder Soldier got to his foot, ignoring Rapaz struggling to free itself. "What should we do about the trees?"

"Ask the freed workers what they know about them," the toy ordered. "If necessary, we may need to destroy them."

Bian looked uncomfortable at the notion of killing the plants but turned to find the information he requested. Thunder Soldier studied Rapaz, wondering who they had been previously and what circumstances had occurred to lead them here.

"Soon," he promised. "Soon, we will both be free."

The castle's security was in shambles, at least by the metric of what Nami had seen before. The battle between Luffy and Doflamingo clearly had a toll on the guard's numbers. She nearly stumbled herself when a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki rolled over the plateau, only Robin's plush nubbins hitting her ear keeping the navigator on track. Half of that Haki wave had been vile and disgusting, but half had been Luffy, and Luffy's Haki did things to her.

"Please remain focused," Robin said. "Our crewmates could be in dire straights this very second. We do not have time to waste."

"Right, sorry," Nami nodded, hurrying toward the castle. Several guards had managed to remain conscious, but they had not expected a pickpocket. Sure, Nami didn't possess the raw power or her weapon to take them down and Robin didn't have access to the Devil Fruit powers she claimed to possess, but her nimble fingers were more than enough to loose their belts, leaving the guards in the dust literally and figuratively.

"Red Hawk!" Luffy's voice yelled, a section of the second floor on the other side exploding from within. Neither pirate woman could see the fight clearly —there were walls in the way— but they could hear it from where they were.

"Five Colors Yarn!"

"Those two are really going at it," Nami muttered, her feet wanting to slow the closer she got to the fight, whether due to the lingering Conqueror's Haki in the air or the knowledge of how vicious the battle between her husband the Warlord was, she wasn't sure. "We'll be walking into a war zone, Robin."

"Nothing we have not seen before," the doll argued. "Luffy and Rob Lucci did quite the number on that room at Enies Lobby, I recall. Frankly, it is a miracle their battle has not moved beyond the castle by now."

"That only makes our job more dangerous," the navigator noted. "There's no way we can get Luffy to make Doflamingo chase him away, can we?"

"Highly unlikely."

"Yeah, I was afraid of that. Well, no point delaying."

Nami plucked up her courage and charged forward, trusting that her captain and husband would protect her if Doflamingo recognized her presence. Robin studied the castle with her button eyes as they got closer, putting her archaeological knowledge to use.

"Ah, a Romanesque style. I should have known given the style of the buildings below, but this stonework is ancient. Possibly Void Century if we remove the later additions."

"Like Luffy is doing literally?"

"…Yes," Robin replied, her voice tight. Nami suspected it had something to do with the destruction of the old castle given the doll's enthusiasm about the structure itself. "Anyway, many Romanesque castles have hidden passages, some as escape routes for the royal families while others could be used for servants or, in times of attack, to move soldiers to flank attackers in certain hallways."

"Law got us in through a secret passage the first time," Nami commented. "It's around the back, though."

"Let us attempt to discover one closer. There." Robin pointed one of her nubbins at the base of a tower parapet on the corner of the building.

"I sure hope you're right, Robin." Nami angled toward their desired location, slowing to a stop around the side of the castle. The sounds of battle were louder but still muted through the multiple layers of old stone and mortar. Robin balanced on Nami's shoulder, scanning the stonework for irregularities.

'Come on,' Nami prayed. 'Find something!'

"Press that stone," Robin ordered, pointing to a slab of grey stone a foot or so above Nami's height. She reached upward, using both hands to shove against said stone. Slowly, she felt it give way under her hands, opening a barely-large-enough space for an armored knight to get through, which meant it was an easy fit for the navigator.

"Good work, Robin," Nami praised as she stepped into the circular base of the tower, circular stairs running up its length and a door leading into the ground floor. "I would ask how you did it, but I guess you're just that good."

"I would be more effective with my powers," Robin confirmed with just a touch of pride. "It's one of the reasons you and Luffy considered me the best babysitter for Little Ace. That and the fact I am teaching him and Merry to read Poneglyphic."

"You can…?" Nami blinked, her brows furrowing. "That sounds familiar."

"I would hope so, however it would behoove us to press forward now. Given the intelligence of our adversaries, I believe they would store your weapons on a higher floor as you would be less likely to stumble across them during escape."

"Got it." Nami headed to the circular stairs, climbing three levels before entering the castle itself.

The interior was, frankly, destroyed. There were man-sized holes in most walls as well as large gaps in the floors and ceilings, clearly the result of Luffy and Doflamingo's fight within the walls. Nami almost felt bad for whoever would take over after they took him down considering the repairs that would need to be made. Robin made an audible sound of discontent on her shoulder, muttering dark curses on both captains for the destruction of the ancient building's interior.

"I can understand Doflamingo's apathy toward his own castle based upon what Law claimed of his personality, but Luffy should know better."

"I think he has other things on his mind," Nami defended, scooting along a wall to avoid falling down to the third level. "Plus, you know how poor his memory is even without Devil Fruit bullshit messing with it."

"...I concede your argument."

Nami and Robin continued through the hallways, only having to hide once when the king of the country plowed through the wall ahead of them. His eyes seemed to widen as he made eye contact with the navigator, the tall man reaching up to point a finger gun at her only for a steaming Luffy to appear, punching him through another wall.

"Luffy!" Nami yelled, her husband glancing back at the sound of her voice, though he clearly kept one eye on the blond he fought. "Give us five minutes or so and run. We need to regroup and find out where everyone is."

"You got it." Luffy vanished, barely avoiding the row of razor-sharp string that tried to take his head off. Nami ran perpendicular, guessing at room positions from what she knew from maps of other castles. She turned left only to freeze.

Standing in the hallway ahead of her was a woman with long, black hair held out of her face with a rose. Her dress was white with purple dots, the sleeveless outfit tight enough around her chest to show off how well-endowed she was but fanning out at her hips, violet ruffles making four stripes at her hips, above and below her knees, and at the bottom hem. She looked up, brown eyes meeting Nami's, the navigator registering three swords and Clima-Tact in her hands and the satchel around her torso.

"You!" she gasped, hurrying toward the woman and doll as quickly as her high heels allowed. "You're the ones I saw! These belong to you."

"Who are you?" Nami asked, defensive. The woman seemed to pick up on this, stopping halfway to the pair of pirates. She raised her hands and knelt, setting Kikoku, Hoshokusha, Emono, the Clima-Tact, and Grace's satchel of paints on the floor before backing away from them.

"My name is Riku Viola, the younger daughter of the former king."

"The former king?" Robin questioned. "What are you doing inside the castle? Should you not be in chains somewhere?"

"Doflamingo" —she spat the name like it was poison— "forced me to join his crew as his personal assassin. It was the only way to keep my father and niece from being outright murdered all these years like he did to my sister Scarlett. When I came to in the throne room and found Doflamingo gone, I used my Devil Fruit to see what was happening. I located your weapons for you."

"She moves as a trained assassin," Robin observed, familiar with her posture given her own experience in such a life. "There is a small dagger hidden in her hair behind the rose and another behind the hem of her dress."

"Please, I want nothing more than to see Doflamingo removed and Dressrosa freed," Viola begged. "I don't care what happens to me as long as I can help you."

Nami stepped forward carefully, watching the other woman like a hawk.

"You mentioned Devil Fruit powers?"

"Yes, I possess the Glare-Glare Fruit." She raised a hand, forming a circle with her pointer finger and thumb that she held up to her eye. "It grants me various special types of visions including the ability to see others' memories, see through walls, see long distances, and manipulate my own tears. It is how I found your weapons."

"Well… thank you, I suppose," Nami muttered, picking up the weapons and tucking the Clima-Tact away. "What do you think, Robin?"

"I believe we can trust her for now," the doll commented. "She did return our weapons when she could have achieved contact with us without them." The castle itself rumbled, Luffy screaming something too muffled for them to make out.

"We need to leave," Nami insisted. "Luffy might bring this whole place down soon."

"Agreed," Viola nodded, sending a sad look at the state of the walls. She sighed. "Follow me. I was a troublemaker as a kid with some of the tontatta. We found a lot of the secret passages."

"The tontatta?" Robin asked as Nami followed, Viola traveling through the castle with familiar ease despite its damages.

"The dwarves," Viola explained. "They're native to Green Bit. The Riku royal family and the Tontatta have had an alliance agreement since we took the throne when the Donquixote family ascended to the rank of Celestial Dragons. They went into hiding when Doflamingo took over."

"Those must be the fairies everyone talked about," Nami commented. "One tried to steal my purse."

"Sorry, we do that sometimes." Nami nearly jumped as a small figure appeared on Viola's shoulder. She must have been a dwarf, the girl with blonde hair and a white dress. "Hello, I'm Mansherry! Viola saved me while Doflamingo was distracted!"

"You know what?" Nami muttered. "I'm not even surprised anymore."

Viola led them to a wall near the back of the castle, her eyes scanning a row of tapestries until finding one of a shadowy figure in a yellow circle, the figure apparently mid-jump with all four arms and legs showing. Viola shoved the tapestry aside and pushed on the wall directly behind it, a circular section depressing before the wall rumbled, a thin section opening. Viola squeezed in, having to not only turn sideways but also adjust herself to get her assets through.

"This was a lot easier before puberty," Viola muttered, letting out a breath as she popped out to the other side. Nami had to do the same, Robin silently glad that she was a doll or else she would be in the same uncomfortable boat. Luckily, the tunnel was not as narrow as the entrance, the royal leading the pirates to the end where a pole led down to the bottom floor. A section of the wall had been blown out, the pirates able to recognize the pink and multicolored hair of their crewmates in battle.

"How many passages does this place have?" Nami questioned, this being the third she'd seen already.

"Oh, plenty," Viola replied with a hint of wistfulness. "Princess Mansherry, hold on."

"Right," the dwarf nodded, taking hold of some of Viola's hair. The local human took hold of the pole and slid down, spinning a little. Nami shared a look with Robin before grabbing on with her free hand, Robin doing her best to help the navigator keep hold of all three of the swords she carried.

"Let's get these back to Coby and Grace," she said as she hit the bottom.

"That door is this way," Viola insisted. "Come on."

The stands had filled with fighters, half dressed in the tan of Doflamingo's lesser crew and the other in the traditional armor of the Dressrosian army. Leading this group was a man in flamboyant clothing of red leather pants and a flowing shirt with the front open to show his lanky, muscular torso. His hat had multiple large flower petals arrayed around his head with two lines of red face paint trailing from his forehead, over his eyes, and down to his chin. A red cape fluttered in the wind while hanging from his shoulders and he held a saber in his hand with triviality.

Flanking him were two large men. The one on the left was dressed to resemble a baby; his shirt too small, a diaper around his waist, a bonnet on his head, and a binky in his mouth. None of this matched the distain on his face directed at the pirates and fighters below. The other was blond with a bushy beard and long hair. He was a very rotund man with the hair of his chest, arms, and legs clear to see around his swirly-patterned white-on-red outfit. He wore a pointed cap upon which was printed the jolly roger of the Donquixote Pirates, the same symbol tattooed on each of his large arms. Attached to the back of his outfit was what appeared to be a platypus tail —or something very much resembling one— and on his back proper was a metal shield.

"Oh no," Rebecca muttered. "That's Diamante, the head of the Colosseum. And with him are Señor Pink and Machvise, two of his officers. They're some of Doflamingo's strongest warriors."

"Oh, good," Sanji grinned. "Then we don't have to go looking for them. Luffy's already fighting Doflamingo and Merry got to announce the war, so let's get this started."

Diamante wasted no time, raising his hand to order the pirates and marines around them to fire. Clearly, he had missed the first time they tried that, or possibly believed that with the reinforcements he'd brought that they made up for the difference.

It didn't matter. Bartolomeo threw himself to the opposite side from Sabo while the revolutionary repeated his action from before.

"Barrier Wall!"

"Quaking Dragon's Shaking Wall!"

Countless bullets impacted the respective walls, each doing equally little. Those blocked by Bartolomeo on the side closest to Diamante simply bounced off, falling to the broken chunks of the arena or into the water. Those on Sabo's side cracked the air with each impact until his barrier looked like a sheet of ice. Only when the gunshots were replaced with the sounds of clicking pistols and muttering attackers did the scarred blond let his grin widen.

"Buckshot Wave!"

"Hit the deck!" Wallace Wood ordered from his precarious position propped upon a protruding piece of splintered pavement. Several marines —mostly those directly under his command— and a few pirates dropped, hiding behind the stone backrests of the Colosseum's seating. Those who did not, however, never got the chance to regret it. Sabo's retaliatory attack was both indiscriminatory and merciless, all their bullets returning to sender all at once.

"Doflamingo's reign of terror ends today!" Riku Doldo III yelled, the sound of his voice causing a number of Royal Army soldiers to stiffen. "Over a decade ago, Doflamingo used his position as a Celestial Dragon, as a descendant of Dressrosa's original royal family, to force me to beg for money to buy my country! And when I did, when the good people I had given my life to serve heeded my call, he took control of me and forced me to slaughter them as a puppet! I'll not leave him in power an hour longer! To hell with his rights! To hell with the Warlords! To hell with the World Government if need be! Dressrosa will see her freedom!"

"Whine, whine, whine," Diamante sneered. "Bitch, bitch, bitch. You're nothing but an old fossil clinging to your glory days. The people of Dressrosa can see for themselves!" He spread his arms. "The kingdom is more prosperous and happier now than it's ever been under your family's rule!"

"Only because Doflamingo's running an underground black market behind the Marines' backs!" Sai accused. "That's where all his money's coming from! Dressrosa's public ledgers can't explain the growth! We bought from him just to track it down!"

"And he's producing artificial Devil Fruits and selling them to Kaido!" Merry added with a grin, her smile widening as she saw the marines start to waver. Clearly, they didn't quite trust Doflamingo with their lives. "He was having Caesar Clown make the formula for him!"

"Preposterous!" a marine, a Vice-Admiral based on the jacket-cape and hat he had donned despite his otherwise-gladiatorial outfit, rebuffed. "We regularly audit our Warlords who remain in one location!"

"Right, like he would actually show ya," Gin snarked with a roll of his eyes.

"More than likely, any who stumbled upon this information were subsequently erased as I was for a time," Kin'emon commented. "As a toy, not even Kanjuro seemed to recall I existed, much less was present within the tunnels."

"It's scary as a toy," Boo agreed. "When you can see and think but can't move yourself or scream… I was only one for a couple minutes, but there have been toys in Dressrosa for years."

"Hey, marines!" Merry called. "How about this? You back off so we can fight the Flower Nightmare and his Fashionless Squad here" —she gestured to Diamante, Señor Pink, and Machvise, all of whom seemed to take offense to her comment— "and then you can fight the winner, yeah?"

"That might not be a bad idea," Wallace Wood considered only to feel a chill up his spine. He turned slightly to see the disapproving glares of his superior officers. "Ahem! Y-You fool! We sh-shant succumb to such s-scandal… uh, salacious! Yes, such salacious suggestions! We marines must maintain immovable morals no matter the malevolent machinations of malignant minds!"

"Well, I tried," Merry shrugged. "Sorry boys and girls, looks like we've got a war on two fronts."

"Leave the marines to us," Sabo suggested, Koala, Hack, and William all readying themselves for battle. "It's what the Revolutionaries do."

Audibly, Wallace Wood whimpered.

"Get them!" Diamante ordered. Pirates and army personnel descended on the group, the members of the Crescent Blades charging William D. Chapston specifically. Catarina Devon seemed to ripple, her form vanishing in the chaos.

Machvise jumped from the railing and floated over the group, only for him to suddenly fall. "Be crushed! Ton Ton!"

"Master Uppercut!"

If not for the force to his face, the blond's eyes would have widened as another blonde jumped upward, her 10,000-kilogram fist threatening to break his jaw with localized force and Armament Haki compounded by his own momentum. Amy grit her teeth as she felt the bones in her hand pop, on the verge of cracking and only saved by the density they now had and the strength of her manifested will. Machvise spun, his arms flailing, before he crashed into a piece of debris that flattened under his weight.

"This one's mine!" the woman yelled, landing as light as a feather. "No one gets to rip off my shtick! Especially not some ugly whale!"

"Die, you has-been king!" Diamante ordered, launching ahead of his army, sword primed to skewer the former ruler. Riku's eyes widened, his hands reaching for a sword he no longer carried, as the man who had killed one of his children now aimed for his own throat.

"Barrier!" Green filled the visions of both Diamante and Riku as Bartolomeo stepped between them, fingers crossed. The Doflamingo pirate's sword struck the Devil-Fruit-borne wall, the divide rippling in a way the former crime boss had never seen before. Still, he didn't let his fanged grin waver even as sweat beaded on his brow. "This guy's important to the Straw Hat Pirates! You'll have to go through me to get him!"

"Why go through when I can have someone go under?" Diamante replied. Bartolomeo's eyes widened as a hand splashed out of the ground, grabbing his leg. It lifted and threw him, his barrier wobbling before falling as his concentration broke. Señor Pink swam from the broken flooring, graceful as a seal, gnawing on his pacifier.

"You fight is with me now," he muttered.

"And that leaves us," Diamante said. His grin widened further as Rebecca, still armed, stepped before her grandfather. "Oh, how precious! Now I can boast killing three generations of the same family!"

"We will not allow such!" Kin'emon and Kanjuro crossed their swords before the pair, the latter holding his paintbrush-scabbard in his offhand. Izou's guns clicked as he, too, took aim for the Donquixote commander. "Good leaders are to be venerated, and you and your captain have dethroned such. We hold special contempt for your ilk!"

"You can't really think you have a chance against me," Diamante laughed. Kin'emon and Izou's eyes narrowed, Kanjuro readjusting his grip on his katana. "Oh, you are. I suppose I have to go through the fodder first, then."

"Get the kid!" pirates and marines yelled, charging through the burgeoning battle toward the toddler know as the Heir of Chaos. Before they could reach, however, massive Venus fly traps sprouted from the floor below them. They screamed, being nearly engulfed completely by the plants.

"No one gets near Ace while I'm around!" Usopp swore, firing a seed for Bamboo Javelin behind him without looking. He scooped Ace into his arms, ensuring the boy wouldn't get lost in the chaos.

"Oh, oh! Uncle Uso! Point me at them! I have an idea!"

"Uh, sure?"

Ace breathed in deeply, his cheeks bulging as smoke started to drift from his nostrils. His cheeks remained bulged as he spoke, his teeth trying to keep his fire inside until the right moment. Where Super-Uncle Sabo had his whole 'Quaking Dragon' thing, he'd do something similar.

"Fire Dragon's Roaaaaaaar!"

Pirates and marines screamed in panic, a giddy laugh rising from Usopp as he used his captain's son like a flamethrower.

The sphere of ice floating in what little water from the moat remained cracked, a panting Monet rising up from where her wings has encircled Sugar. The little girl (who was, in actuality, the elder of the two) shivered as the incoming rush of air was cooled by her sister's ice.

"That was close," Monet frowned. She couldn't usually make ice —her Fruit was not as strong as the former Admiral Aokiji and needed ample water or her own body for such, not just what was in the air— so it had taken a lot of focus as a bit of luck to pull that stunt off. Her eyes narrowed at the pirates whose mere presence had put both her and her sister in such jeopardy, said pirates now in battle against her own crewmates. She perched on the top of her ice and spread her wings. "Blizzard!"

"Fresh Fire!"

Monet's eyes widened as a stream of fire killed her blizzard before it could take shape, the heat dispersing her own cold air. Franky grinned as Gin launched over him with his own Haki-coated lightning wings, Monet flapping away before the monk's tonfa could strike her.

Inside the sphere, Sugar climbed to her feet, hurrying to the side where she could see her (younger) sister practically running from the Lightning Demon. Something moved behind her, Sugar spinning around with one of her hands already on course to touch whomever dared to approach.

She touched nothing but a hammer, the weapon not only redirecting her hand but also twisting around. It ended up upside down, the mallet and handle pinning her wrist to the ice as the corundum head lodged there. A matching hammer did the same to her other wrist before Sugar could react, metal pellets pinning her clothing as well. Her small crown fell to the floor from her bear-eared hood.

"Surprise," Merry grinned, a sadistic side the Klabautermann couldn't determine the origin of rising to her surface. She leaned in close, enough that Sugar could smell her breath like salty sea air. "Do you want to do this the easy way or the hard one?"

There was a gleam in her eye as the horned girl cracked her knuckles. Sugar made a sound somewhere between a chastised child and a dying goat as Merry's deadly smile widened. Merry reared back a fist only for the rival pirate's eyes to roll, her body going limp.

"…Huh?" Merry blinked. "Well, I guess that works, too."

"What are we supposed to do now?" Angel asked her sister, she, Custard, and Shiryu watching the fight passively from an open window. No marines had made any motion toward them and they, in turn, had done nothing aggressive to warrant such. Neither of their respective factions truly cared who came out on top in this conflict, after all.

"I'm not too sure," Custard commented, her arms wrapped around one of Shiryu's, much to the man's clear dislike. The hold was just as much so Custard could rub it in Angel's face as to make sure Shiryu didn't try to ditch them and run off. She wanted a strong husband and would be damned if she let something as trivial as his feelings on the matter ruin it.

"Well, well," a voice muttered, the three turning slightly to see Catarina Devon step out of the shadows. "Shiryu, you look almost domesticated like that. I should've taken a picture. Captain would've had a field day."

"Shut up," the man replied simply. "If there are no Devil Fruits here to claim, then there's no reason for us to be here either."

"I suppose it's the same with us," Custard agreed. "Angel, you can take the news to Mama and Cracker. I'll go with Shi and Catarina to work out the details."

"Godadammit," Shiryu sighed, prompting Catarina to burst into laughter at his plight. The man rubbed his head, already feeling the headache.

"Alright, I'll see you soon." Angel gave her sister a quick hug before running off, presumably toward the dock where their ship was. Left alone with Custard and her unenthusiastic groom-to-be, Catarina gave a smirk.

"You know, neither of us will be returning to Hachinosu emptyhanded. I found something on the way here." Catarina reached into her cape before pulling out a Devil Fruit. It was cylindrical, gray in color with a twisted design rising from bottom to top and a looping, copper stem. "It's not the Flame or Quake Fruit, but I'm sure we can find some use for it."

"Better than nothing," Shiryu agreed. "Let's get out of here."

End of Chapter 69

Hehe, nice.

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-SwordOfTheGods