Another month, another chapter, and ho boy is this one a doozy! Tell me, did I do the major fight scene in this chapter justice? I've been trying to spread them out because I know I just start skimming through them if I jet too many too fast, and writing them can be the same. Anyway, Thank You: 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, Rafael Cardenas, ReactedLyric, Richard Barkley, Ryuu, Sasha, Shaun Guard,Siddiq Morris, TheWolfThatExist, Thomas Sanders, Tom Peissig, and ViewtifulSoul!

Enough from me; on to the chapter!

Chapter 73:

New Arrivals

"I guess Doflamingo has deemed your ship as too meager prey for my attention," Pica squeaked, an eye following the image of the Sunny turning tail to face the Marine ship head-on from beyond the Birdcage. "Well, that's of little concern to me if it's Doflamingo's will."

"Hmph," Momonga grunted, identifying the leading Vice-Admiral of the ship by the figurehead and sails. "Doll's response time is lacking. She should have been here ten minutes ago. I'll need to recommend drills for her and her branch."

"I don't think you'll be in any shape to speak on that by the end of the day," Jinbei said, his 10,000-Brick Fist cratering the ground where Momonga had stood not a moment before. "It sounds like you were just in recovery. It's a shame we have to put you back there so soon."

"You may try," the marine replied. "I have no intention of gracing the infirmary with my presence again this month."

"And when have pirates ever cared about your intentions?" Coby asked, throwing himself into the fight to take his mind off Grace being forced to sail away on Sunny. "On the bright side, we'll do everything to not kill you."

"Oh, how delightful." Momonga's voice dripped with sarcasm, his sword catching both of Coby's even as his right hand moved to block Jinbei, the shutter that shook his body even going through Coby on the other side. A blue tint overcame the surrounding area, the Vice-Admiral quickly breaking contact with the pair of pirates before the vertical slash from the Surgeon of Death could bisect him.

"Gin!" Nami called from above, Billy barrelrolling with the air currents as Pica tried to swat them. She swung her Perfect Clima-Tact, a Weather Egg breaking into a cyclone in Pica's face. "Go with Sunny! They might need a powerhouse and you're probably the only one who can reach them!"

"But Donna!" the Logia protested. "Don't y'all need me here?"

"Trust us, Gin. We can handle one egotistical flamingo."

"Do not call the Young Master that!" Pica yelled.

"Iffin ya say so, Donna," Gin nodded. He swung his tonfa one more time, his Haki shattering one of the stone giant's hands, before the lightning-man landed on a piece of the rubble. He angled himself and flashed, reappearing on the deck of the Sunny with a thunderclap, a whiff of ozone, and some scorched grass.

"Gin?" Merry blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"Donna asked me t' go with," he explained. "Said y'all might want another hand wi' the weather if nothin' else."

"Fair enough," the Klabautermann grinned. Sunny was already picking up speed, the wind and the paddlewheels working in tandem as they quickly approached the battleship of G-14. Grace and Kaku stood upon the figurehead, doing what they could to fend off the spikes the Marines were firing at them, even if the former government agent was doing most of the work with Tempest Kick. Grace was able to stop what got through using the argon and salt in the air, but her range simply lacked compared to his. As they drew closer, both Merry and Sunny could feel the start of a ship spirit of the Marines' own, just enough to call herself Raggedy Anne. "Sunny, how're our Cola stores?"

"Not enough for another Gaon Cannon," the ship answered, her voice echoing from within her hold. "I could do a small Coup de Burst, but it'll leave us empty."

A feral grin worthy of any of the Monster Trio tugged at Merry's lips. "Let's make sure these blue-and-white pansies remember us."

"I think I like this side o' you, Merry," Gin grinned.

"Thanks!" she answered. "I got it from you! Now go help Kaku and Grace with those spikes!"

"I think you're all terrifying," Momonosuke muttered from the floor beside her, still in his dragon form. He sorely wanted to go inside, but he was more afraid of if he couldn't see what was coming between the marines and the crazy pirates he and Kin'emon had begged for help.

"Not to worry, Momo!" Merry declared with another laugh. "Hang with us long enough and you'll be terrifying, too! I mean, look at Mrs. Nami and Uncle Usopp. They're the weak ones! And Coby used to be a total wimp!"

Momonosuke made a sound like a squeaky toy deflating. He eyed the railing, wondering if he should test if artificial Devil Fruits like the one he apparently had also stole one's ability to swim and the odds of both the marines fishing him up and him being able to convince them to help him liberate Wano.

"Halt, in the name of the law!" Doll yelled from the Raggedy Anne.

"Go, in the name of Thousand Sunny and Monkey D. Luffy!" Merry yelled back, their ship's paddlewheels retreating back into their docks. "Sunny?"

"Ready, Merry!"

"Coup de Burst!" they called in tandem, the older Klabautermann yanking the lever like she'd always wanted to. "Incoming!"

"Grab onto something!" Grace screamed, anchoring herself to the figurehead with purple chains. Gin and Kaku dove further into the deck, relying more on distance from the railing to help them. Sound and wind roared in the pirates' ears as Sunny gained speed, her hull rising to skim over the water.

Voices screamed from the deck of the Raggedy Anne as they approached nearing the sound barrier. The ships collied with a sound not dissimilar to a thunderclap, Adam wood crunching against steel and Sea Prism Stone. The Sunny bounced, ricocheting off the other ship's hull and leaving a notable dent behind. The force sent the Raggedy Anne rolling over the waves, the battleship nearly capsizing as the screaming coming from her deck redoubled. Sunny and her passengers didn't care, skipping over the water as her momentum bled away.

"That was super cool!" Sunny cheered, materializing beside Merry with her indistinct face and red mane of hair. "Let's do it again!"

"No dice, kid," Kaku warned, getting up from where he'd been thrown to the grassy deck. "No Cola and no time. We gotta skedaddle."

"They're insane," Doll hissed, holding tight to the railing with one hand and to Lieutenant Commander Hibari with the other, the poor girl trying to get her diaphragm to work after that scare. She glanced toward the deck proper with her blue eyes, finding Rear Admiral Kujaku using her metal whip to keep herself down. Doll was a beautiful woman in her late twenties with short, black hair that barely reached her neck. She was dressed without armor, wearing only a black top that had a gash to show a little of her modest cleavage and bared the lower part of her midriff over leather pants. Around her neck was a spiked collar, and her belt held the emblem of, ironically, a skull-and- crossbones. "All hands, balance the ship before we capsize!"

"Aye, Vice-Admiral!" Female marines scrambled for the port side, trying to counterbalance the cargo and provisions that had shifted in the hold. Slowly, the Raggedy Anne started to lower back enough that several of the lower-ranked marines could scurry into the ship to try to set the inanimate weight right.

"After them, now!" Doll ordered as the port side splashed back to where it should be.

"But what about the rest of the pirates on the island?" Hibari questioned, casting her eyes back toward Dressrosa. Hibari was a teen barely into womanhood with long, blonde hair in a ponytail and blue eyes. She wore a zipped, white, short-sleeve jacket that showed her stomach under a black bandoleer with pink hearts. Her turquoise camo pants had one leg missing, showing half of her striped yellow and orange leggings that went down to her orange boots. She wore pink headphones around her neck and carried a blue backpack that held the special ammo she used in her rifle. She could feel the battle happening on the docks, but for some reason found it difficult to distinguish which side was in the right, the rocking of the ship preventing her from using her gun's scope to do so. Three of the individuals she could sense were clearly good people, but they were fighting each other. She wanted to know more.

"I doubt we could get in even if we needed to," Doll answered, keeping her own eyes on the stern of the Thousand Sunny. "We will have to trust our fellow marines on the island already. Our mission will be to capture the Straw Hats attempting to escape."

"That will be your mission," another voice interrupted. Doll turned slightly to view her fellow Vice-Admiral. "I, however, will be on the ground in Dressrosa."

Doll stared at him for a moment, chewing on her cigarette slightly. On one hand, she didn't want to take orders from someone the same rank as her — one who had not held said rank for as long and was so arrogant to boot — but on the other hand, she'd be happy to be rid of him.

"Fine," she decided. "How do you propose to get there?"

"Simply launch me with a Tempest Kick and I shall handle the rest."

"Then let's do this before we get any further from the shore." Doll pushed Hibari out of the way before spinning, utterly uncaring if her fellow Vice-Admiral were prepared or not. He was (unfortunately), the man hopping up to launch himself toward the stringed-off Dressrosa with the combined leg strength of himself and Doll, the man all but vanishing. She sighed. "Good riddance. Hibari, keep your scope on that ship and take any potshots you can. I don't want them getting away."

"Kill shots?"

"No. No need for that. Understood?"

"Yes, Vice-Admiral."

Meanwhile, the man seemed unconcerned about the cage of string he quickly approached through the air, his legs keeping him aloft with Moonwalk when he felt the need. As he got closer, he allowed himself to lose some of his consistency, his body turning to a purple goop that split with fine control to pass between the strings without touching them lest he risk high-speed contact with a Warlord's Haki. He didn't bother putting himself back together as he began to slow, his mass hitting a building and splattering.

All was still for a moment before the purple goo began to writhe, squirming across the ground and over the walls to congeal together in an alleyway. It formed a tall, wiry man with straight, blond hair down to his back. He was dressed in a gold-buttoned purple suit with black embroidery running over the edges styled to look like thorny roses and matching purple slacks. He frowned, tugging at the black gloves he wore as his white marine coat flapped in a breeze, the man wearing it more like a cape as so many of the corps were wont to do.

"Now then," Vice-Admiral Helmeppo said to himself, his dark sunglasses hiding the glint in his eye. "Where are you, 'Tri-Horn' Coby?"

"You still think you have a chance?" Machvise questioned, getting to his own feet. "My maximum weight is 500 times yours, girl."

"Yet you can't break me," Amy shot back with a cold smirk. She planted her feet before shooting forward, Haki coating her foot as she lashed out. Machvise raised his shield only for the new crack in it to get bigger, his eyes only having time to widen as his ear comprehended the audible break.

"Black Matter Kilogram!" The shield shattered, the follow-through blowing Machvise into the building behind him. Amy panted, wincing as she set her leg down gingerly, the fading Haki revealing a number of bruises that had not been on her leg before. She cracked her knuckles. "Without too many allies around, I don't have to hold back so much. You all, get going. This fight is gonna be destructive."

"Very well," Kyros nodded. "Tontatta, let us go."

Amy settled back into a fencer's stance with her umbrella raised, favoring her unbruised leg, as Haki swirled over her hands, forearms, and unconventional weapon.

"Come on, tubby. Round two."

"You… bitch," the man growled, his eyes focused on the woman as Kyros, Velo, and the Tontatta filed away. "I'll crush you. I'll turn your body into a paste and your bones to dust." He paused, looking up as lines filled the sky. He grinned. "Doflamingo is ready for the finale. That means I need to wrap this up."

He charged forward, bouncing almost like a ball with each step even as said steps cratered the ground. Amy breathed, letting her Haki swirl in a miasma around her. She stomped, sending up a cloud of dust.

"Ton-Ton Drill Fist!"

Machvise's attack barely missed in the dust, the fist coming so close that it ruffled Amy's hair. The air pressure reacted a moment later, blasting the woman to the side. She flipped, her legs carving trenches in the street as she slowed, wincing at the pain to her bruised leg. She pushed past it, kicking off with her other before Machvise could move again. Amy tossed her club, turning it around as she pumped both her powers and her Haki into the weapon.

"Black Matter Grand Slam!"

Machvise raised his hands, the ground starting to collapse under his weight just as the weapon's handle landed. He grunted, feeling the Haki press against him. Were it not for the suddenly-slanted ground below, the attack would have pushed him back and away.

But it didn't, Machvise gritting his teeth as he denied the force behind the blow. His hand twisted, grabbing the club and pulling. Amy's eyes widened as the bearded man's hand filled her vision. His fingers squeezed around her head, the female pirate dropping her weapon to prioritize trying to pry off his fingers with her own.

"Hihii!" the man grinned, lifting her up off the ground. He could feel her weight, the woman trying to give herself purchase by attempting to overpower his strength with her Fruit. Unfortunately for her, Machvise knew that trick also worked in reverse, their mass-changing Fruits also increasing their muscles and strength when used. Still, she was durable if nothing else.

"Bastard!" Amy hissed, kicking the air in her vain attempts to struggle free.

"You are annoyingly resilient." He squeezed, the woman screaming as Haki formed around her hair, cracking under his grip and resolidifying in the same moment. Blood ran down from her hairline where is fingers put enough pressure to rupture several of her minor veins. "Just die already, girl."

"No…" she hissed, her hands feeling along his down to his wrist. "I can't… I won't… My crew is relying on me!"

"Hmm?" Machvise felt pressure on his wrist but thought nothing of it, considering her own grip nothing but the final pleas of her survival instinct. Amy screamed again, the sound merging with a scream of Machvise's own as her Haki-blackened fingers dug into his arm, snapping some of the metacarpals in his wrist. He let go, taking a couple steps back while cradling his now-broken bones with his other hand. "You stupid bitch!"

Amy offered a pained smirk, blood dripping down over her face. She looked up at him, her blue irises pinpricks.

"I've got you now," she panted.

"Tch," he scowled. "You don't seem to understand your position." He jumped, going higher than anyone of his size should be able to, floating over the blonde. "Just die already! Ton-Ton Piledriver!"

Amy kicked with her good leg and rolled, barely avoiding the attack that propelled her further with the air pressure. She didn't stay idle, the woman jumping into their air herself while the man comprehended his miss. They had similar styles, and she figured it was time to show him that she also knew what weight could do.

"11,000-Kilogram Black Nail!"

She fell feet-first, keeping her legs straight. Her timing and judgement of distance had been accurate, the chocolatier reaching terminal velocity only a second before impact with the man's lower back. His flesh distended under her shoes, the woman feeling bone and cartilage crack under her force just before his powers fluctuated, reinforcing himself. Pushing off his good hand with a grunt, he rolled, hoping to trap the woman between him and the ground.

Amy was faster than that, however, leaping from his large frame to land on the road with ne'er a whisper. Machvise grit his teeth, his wrist and back killing him. This was disgraceful! He was an Army Officer of the Donquixote Familia, a trusted aid of Diamante! He couldn't lose to some no-name girl whose powers were a direct inferiority to his own!

"I guess I can't hold back," he muttered. To think this girl would make him try his hardest. He lowered his stance, raising one leg and then the other, each stomp cracking the ground. "Come get a taste of my Ton-Ton Sumo."

"As if that will help you," Amy mocked. She chanced a glance behind her, finding a building where she had thought there was. Accepting Machvise's challenge, she flipped backward, practically landing horizontally on the wall of the building. She kicked off and activated her Kilo powers at the same time, the building shattering under the force of her legs as she rocketed toward the man. She twisted, bringing her leg around in a roundhouse kick, Haki swirling.

"Black Matter Cleaver!"

"Ton-Ton Sumo Shield!" Machvise made no attempt to block, letting the attack land against his gut. It was like kicking a steel wall, the man's feet leaving furrows in the road as Amy's kick drove him backward despite his weight. He coughed blood but did not go down, his arms grabbing the Weightless Woman's leg. "Let's see how you like this application of our powers."

Amy's eyes widened as she felt her mass start draining away into the man through his grip on her leg. He raised her up, the woman doing everything she could to draw in more mass from the air to compensate before he brought her down on his knee. She screamed as her back gave a horrible crack.

"You could never have hoped to beat me," Machvise sneered, holding the woman by her neck now. Her fingers weakly clutched at his, her breaths little more than pained gasps. "Not only do I have more experience, but I simply outclass you, and I always will. Now, you will die like all the other upstarts who ever thought it would be possible to defeat us."

"Oh?" she panted, angling herself so he could see her bloodstained smirk. "Is that what you think?"

He growled. "You rookies just don't know when to quit." He started squeezing her throat, cutting off her air. "Just quietly fade away. I promise it won't take long."

They stayed in that position for several seconds, Machvise certain of his victory, only for him to realize his arm was starting to shake. He brought his other hand up despite the pain in his wrist, trying to crush her throat, but still her smirk remained.

"You really…" she rasped through the chokehold, "should not have… shown that trick… to me." Her Haki-coated fingers dug under his own, starting to pry them away. "Seeing as I'm the only one who could ever copy it."

Machvise moved to surge his powers the moment he realized this insignificant gnat of a woman was using his own mass-draining against him, but Amy had anticipated this. Her grip snapped his fingers, the officer letting her go with a cry of pain. Amy hit the ground hard, cracking and shattering cobblestone as the road cratered again. She took in her first full breath since he got his hand on her throat

"You…!" Machvise raged, his broken fingers flaring with pain at every twitch. "You…! You little worm! Your bounty doesn't even surpass 50-million and you think you can defeat me‽ Die like the rest of your pathetic band of misfits and morons! Ton-Ton Collapse: Black Hole!"

Machvise screamed, Amy taking a step away as the wind started to move toward him. The ground under him started to cave as the man sucked in more and more mass from the surrounding atmosphere. The wind got so strong that it started pulling in debris from the surroundings, the stone hitting Machvise's body at high speed and shattering.

"Ton-Ton… Ton-Ton…! Ton-Ton! Ton-Ton Ton-Ton TonTonTonTonTonTon—!"

Amy dug her heels into the ground, her club getting pulled in to shatter against the rest of the rubble.

"This is bad," she muttered to herself, wracking her brain for any counter to this. More than likely, his final gambit here would have serious repercussions for him, either physical or lethal, but she would be long crushed before those took their toll on the bearded man at this rate. Her eyes darted around the surroundings, looking for something — anything — she could use.

A building that looked like a church down the road cracked under the force of the wind, a flagpole from its roof falling to the ground and rolling along the cobblestones. Amy's eyes locked onto it, the younger pirate falling to her hands and knees. She crawled along the ground, digging her fingers and feet into the earth to fight against the air pressure threatening to drag her into the increasing mass of Machvise's would-be black hole.

She barely managed to get in the way of the broken flagpole before it rolled past her, the woman gripping it like a lifeline. She turned slowly, trying to judge the distance and angle, running her powers and Haki through her new weapon.

"Let this work," she prayed to any deity who would listen, Goda or otherwise. "Let this work. Please let this work."

Slowly, she reduced her mass, letting the wind drag her in. Faster and faster it pulled her, the blonde angling the broken, sharp edge toward her opponent.

"Kilo Black Needle!"

There was a sickening squelch as she came to a sudden stop, her side slamming into and bouncing off of the debris-covered hide of the super-weight-man. She coughed at the impact, her back screaming, but the wind stopped. Amy rolled as she hit the ground, finding Machvise clutching at the pole that now stuck into and through his neck, the only squishy part of him that had been unblocked by the makeshift armor. His eyes locked onto hers as his powers started to fail, air pressure increasing locally as the rubble piled at his feet. His eyes begged for a mercy that was too late to come, the blood from his neck staining his blond beard.

With not so much as a wheeze, Machvise tipped backward, landing on his back. Blood pooled around him as the last glimmers of light faded from his eyes. Amy panted, trying to recover her breath and take stock. Her back was not broken thanks to her powers and Haki, at least, but she'd have a serious bruise for a long while. Between that, the bleeding from her head, and more than a few bruises, she'd come out of the fight intact.

Someone clapped, Amy spinning around too quickly that her back flared with pain. She gasped, falling to a knee as she tried to comprehend what she saw.

"Good show," the clapping man said, stepping through the destruction casually. He was an exceptionally-tall Long-Leg man in a pink suit, his hips and waist covered in some sort of decoration resembling the lower half of a broken egg. He had a well-groomed, dark mustache that made a W and a scar over the eye on his right side, said eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses. Atop his head was balanced a tea saucer and teacup, also in pink. The man reached up, taking the cup and sipping from it before replacing it again. "Bon— Quite the battle, that was. I half expected us to need to step in —soir."

"Grr," the lion man at his side agreed in a similar pink suit but without the egg decoration. It was no Devil Fruit power, for this was a Lion Mink, a humanoid with the body features of a lion from the moving island of Zou. He too wore sunglasses. "I'm glad we didn't have to get involved."

"B-Baron Tamago," Amy said, her breath hitching. "Pekoms. I, uh, didn't expect you."

"Bon— no, I would guess not seeing as you did your best to avoid Ms. Angel and Ms. Custard —soir," Tamago replied.

Amy paled, doing her best to back up without trying to give it away.

"H-How did you get here so fast? Totland should be several days' journey from here at least."

"It would be if we took a ship," Pekoms answered. "But we've got some visitors who have some new technology they were willing to give us. The Moon Walker, they called it, a ship that can carry small groups long distances in short time. Of course, we gave it to Ms. Custard and Ms. Angel and will be taking their ship back. The group that gave us the Moon Walker actually seemed to be very disappointed to learn of the deal you made with Big Mom."

"Bon— Oui, they were quite put out —soir," Tamago agreed. "They needed to make a secondary deal for the alliance they wanted. But speaking of deals, Mama has grown tired of waiting for your crew to make your way to Totland on your own. For you to uphold your part of your deal. You shall help us collect the involved and return —s'il vous plait."

"I-I…" Amy stuttered, searching for a way out. This was the last thing she needed while in such a state.

"Hmm?" Tamago hummed, picking up on the woman's distress. "Bon— do not tell me you have chosen to renounce our loyalty and kindness; that would be most unfortunate for you —soir. You too call her Mama, yes? Or are you no longer a member of the Big Mom Pirates?"

"I… That…" Amy grabbed the closest rock and increased its mass, chucking it at the pair. She turned and started to run as Pekoms jumped before the Long-Leg, his Haki-coated fist knocking the projectile out of the air.

"Grr, that traitor!" Pekoms growled.

"We were warned this was a possibility. Pekoms, restrain her if you would —s'il vous plait."

Pekoms shot forward, catching up to the injured woman where he used his larger paw to grab her waist and pick her up, slamming her into the ground. Amy struggled as the Mink pinned her arms behind her back. The lion hoisted her up, turning her toward his companion.

"Now then," Tamago muttered to himself. "Bon— what was the trigger phrase Ms. Pudding gave us? Ah yes —soir." He knelt, getting closer to Amy's height since his legs alone were taller than her entire height by half. He looked her dead in the eye, speaking slowly and clearly. "The cake is a lie."

Amy screamed as visions and memories assaulted her all at once, her arms trying to come to her head in an attempt to ease the sudden pain but prevented from doing so by Pekoms. She struggled, flailing at first before she started to calm. At Baron Tamago's nod, Pekoms released her, Amy falling to her knees, eyes shaded.

"If you would, tell us who has your loyalty —s'il vous plait," Tamago said. Amy looked up slowly, her eyes a little unfocused.

"I'm loyal to Mama." She answered. "I promised my Nakama to Mama for their safety. I will do what Mama wants."

"Very bon then," he nodded. "Come along. It is time we collect the groom."

Amy stood, accepting a hanky from Pekoms to wipe the blood from her face. She thanked him, handing it back, though the mink casually tossed it away.

"Last I saw, he was this direction," Amy said. Baron Tamago and Pokoms followed the seemingly-out-of-it woman toward the Colosseum.

"Would! You! Just! Hold! Still‽" Pica raged, Billy pulling another close call to keep himself and Nami on his back unflattened by the massive stone hand. None of either of their attacks could do anything more than annoy the massive stone-human and any hit in their dangerous game of stone-cat-and-flying-mouse would spell at least crippling injuries for them, but there was no guarantee the others could do anything to the stone giant either without taking themselves out of the fight and none of them were quite as nimble as Billy was in the air. At least Nami had plenty of room for her various weather patterns to aggravate and annoy the Doflamingo executive.

"Get out of our way!" Law ordered, swinging Kikoku with the intent to nonlethally bisect the marine Vice-Admiral. Momonga lowered his stance, parrying the attack upward with his Haki-coated blade. His determined expression didn't change as he pivoted, catching Hoshokusha with his own weapon before launching his other hand forward to pierce the younger man with Finger Pistol. Coby shifted into his Slasher Mode and vanished, leaving only empty air.

The marine did not get a moment's rest, having to jump away from a powerful punch from the fishman that cratered the ground where he'd been standing. The mustachioed man sighed, eyeing the trio of allied pirates surrounding him on three sides.

"It pains me to say I am currently fighting alongside a filthy pirate," he muttered. "Still, I cannot give any of you free reign after what you have done."

Coby paused, sending a glance at his companions as a thought came to mind. "Law, Jinbei," he said. "Stop for a moment. Vice-Admiral, may I ask you something before we resume our battle?"

"What, pray tell, may you have to ask me, pirate?" the marine questioned. Coby slowly sheathed his swords, causing both his opponent's and his allies' eyebrows to rise.

"You seem a decent man, Vice-Admiral Momonga," Coby began. "You believe in justice and rule of law, but surely you are not so blindly devoted to not see that there is still corruption in the Marines and the World Government, yes?"

Momonga was quiet for a moment, his sword still ready and his body tense should either Jinbei or Law chose to break their armistice, though he would say the latter was far more likely in that regard. He sighed. "I will admit to disappointment in the actions of some of my colleagues," he answered slowly. "I understand there will be hypocrisies in the name of a greater peace, but that does not mean I will not do everything I can to prevent those that are unnecessary."

"And of those, would you cut them out? With a scalpel, or maybe a… dagger?"

Momonga's eyes widened at the emphasis, his body language giving away his knowledge. Law chanced a look at the pink-haired Zoan while Jinbei looked utterly confused.

"Why would you propose such a weapon?" Momonga asked.

"Because I know that's what it does. We don't have to be on opposite sides here."

"Quite the thing to say after our last meeting. Tell me, why are we on the same side, then?"

"Because a certain dagger sent us here." Coby saw Momonga's sword dip, the roset pressing his verbal advantage. "While we were on Punk Hazard, we learned of DAGGER while working to defeat Caesar Clown and rescue a group of children he was experimenting on. Law can confirm, seeing as he was biding his time there for a chance to cripple a business venture Doflamingo had invested in with Caesar. The marine who—"

"Commodore Smoker." Coby blinked at the interruption.

"I didn't say—"

"You don't need to," Momonga interrupted again, sheathing his sword. "I know that Smoker and his misfits of G-5 were sent to Punk Hazard to keep him out of the Neo-Marines debacle. I also know he has a history with your crew."

"…Yeah, it was Smoker," the Straw Hat pirate relented. "He told the crew about DAGGER to assuage concerns about the children's wellbeing after we'd leave. I missed that initial conversation —a group of us were fighting a two-headed lizard with Tashigi at the time— but he apparently also called Captain Luffy a friend, probably just to open communication to sent us after someone in the future without the Marines being culpable."

"And he directed you toward Doflamingo," the Vice-Admiral sighed. "We of DAGGER were not given briefing of the situation, but most of us were not supposed to be here anyway and were called as reinforcements from the nearby area. I'm certain Admiral Fujitora and Vice-Admiral Jonathan are aware, but the marines cannot be seen allying with pirates to defeat one of their own Warlords."

"To be fair, we were going to come after Doflamingo anyway. We and our allies have a lot of business to finish here between returning the favor for Captain Luffy's scar from Marineford, Law's entire backstory, Doflamingo's overthrow of the previous royal family, and whatever else the others have found on this island."

"I would like to include myself being turned into a toy, even if I was forgotten because of it," Jinbei added.

"There, that's at least four reasons," the Zoan shrugged. He grinned. "Plus, we've got a Warlord scorecard to complete."

"Excuse me?" both Momonga and Law questioned.

"See, we've beaten up or befriended every Warlord since Crocodile and Doflamingo was the last one left, if you count Captain Luffy beating up Buggy back in the East Blue."

"I don't know why I'm even surprised anymore," Momonga sighed as one of the two examples — the extrahuman one — laughed. "My honor demands I take you in, but I also owe you for saving my life."

"Then allow me to help." Momonga turned at Jinbei's voice only for his eyes to roll as the fishman's Haki-coated hand came down on him, knocking the marine Vice-Admiral unconscious. He slumped.

"You don't think he's gonna get in trouble for that, do you?" Coby questioned.

"I don't think so," Jinbei replied. It's not unfeasible for a former Warlord to get one over on a Vice-Admiral, much less two."

"I guess that's fair." The roset and his allies turned to the hulking mass of Pica, a clearly-winded Billy only barely still avoiding his swipes. Law held out his hand, ready to make a Room, but Coby held out his own. "Wait for it."

"Wait for wha—"

"Nine mountains and eight seas make up one world," a voice said from somewhere behind Pica, seeming to echo through the surroundings. Pica froze, his massive size beginning to turn to try to see the origin. "A thousand of these make up one chiliocosm. When I gather and cube that chiliocosm, there is nothing that cannot be cut."

"What kind of stupid drivel—?" the faux-giant questioned.

"Three-Sword-Style Secret Technique: Billion-Fold World Triciliocosm!"

A single swing bisected the stone giant at the chest, severing the arms at the biceps as well. Pica screeched as half of his gathered mass was thrown into the air by sheer wind pressure, the other pirates on the ground having to dig their heel in to avoid being blasted into the water. Zoro didn't stop, his swords coming up to split the head and shoulders of the giant in half vertically, then off at the neck, then horizontally through what was mostly Pica's left shoulder. Grinning to himself, Zoro sheathed his Haki-coated swords as the final slash opened, the falling rock and stone revealing an unconscious Pica with his right arm and leg separated from the rest of himself.

The landing stone caused a localized quake, only the previous destruction of the dockside buildings preventing them from having been destroyed in that moment. Pica landed hard, blood pooling from his stumps.

"You… bastard…" he growled, trying to get up with his remaining arm. "I'm not… dead yet…"

"No, you're not," Zoro replied from atop a tower of arms that had given him the height he needed for his stunt. Said arms lowered him, dispersing into petals "We don't kill when we don't need to."

"You may not be dead now," another voice said, "but you will still feel the cold bite of the Underworld's winds. Grave Larghissimo."

Brook walked past the now-two-limbed man, slowly resheathing Soul Solid. As he did, Pica was incased in a massive chunk of ice, his expression shocked. Brook turned, giving the spectators his most toothy smile (not that he could do anything else since he didn't have lips!).

"Zoro-sensei?" Coby asked. "Where did you learn a word like 'triciliocosm'?"

"I have hobbies, too, Shrimp," Zoro rebuffed, Robin giving him an impressed look considering that was the largest, most-syllabic word she'd ever heard from the green-haired swordsman.

"Impressive," Law admitted, walking over with Kikoku out. "I can almost admire your drive toward nonlethality."

"Yohoho!" the skeleton laughed. "The captain does insist when possible."

"Too bad I don't have such qualms."

"Law—!"

Coby's plea went ignored, again, as the captain of the Heart Pirates drove his sword through the ice and into Pica's chest. Zoro and Robin walked over as he yanked it back out, flicking blood from the blade as more of it began to pool and freeze in the ice chunk. Pica's expression remained unchanged.

"How unnecessary," the archeologist commented, Billy landing nearby while Viola approached from where she'd witnessed the battle without being in the way. Unlike Nami, she had no weapons nor mounts that would give her any chance against the upper echelons of the tyrant pirate's crew. "Had you left him frozen, the Marines could have taken him to Impel Down."

"Or he could unfreeze and drag himself away," Law rebuffed. Coby highly doubted Pica would have been able to do that. "Frankly, I don't care. I'll be killing Doflamingo anyway, so his executives might as well join him."

"I, for one, can't say I'm sad to see Pica go," Viola put in.

"Well, our work is done here," Zoro commented. "What's next?"

"I'm taking a group to the Colosseum," Nami announced. "My baby's there and I don't want him out of my sight any longer than necessary."

"Your…?" Jinbei blinked, gawking at the woman. "What‽ You and Luffy had a kid‽"

"Yeah, Ace. You didn't know? Who are you, anyway?"

"I… fought alongside Luffy at Marineford," Jinbei answered, not willing to risk Nami recognizing his name at this moment. "I consider him a friend and ally."

"If we're done with the niceties, I'm going after Doflamingo," Law grunted.

"You're giving back that Devil Fruit before you go anywhere," Nami denied, her gaze piercing the doctor as she held her hand out. Law sighed, reaching into his coat to pull out the purple apple that was the Salamander Zoan: Model Axolotl. He placed it in the navigator's palm.

"There," he said. "Happy?"

"What was your plan for that, anyway?" Coby asked.

"I was going to teleport it into Doflamingo's mouth," Law answered. "When one eats a second Devil Fruit, supposedly they die. I was going to test that theory or otherwise kill him while his body adjusted to the Fruit and he was in a weakened state."

"Interesting," Robin nodded. "A clever strategy, but untested."

"Well, find your own Devil Fruit to use," Nami scowled. "I know there are at least two of them on the island now besides this one."

"Perhaps I will," Law shot back, annoyed that the Cat Burglar seemed more concerned with the potential payday from selling a (frankly weak) Devil Fruit than his plan to end Doflamingo's reign permanently. "Who will go after Doflamingo with me?"

"I'll go," Zoro offered, eager to finish this fight and get to his coming naptime.

"Myself as well," Jinbei nodded. "Doflamingo may be stronger than me, but I an certain I can be of use."

"I believe the rest of us will be of more use in the Colosseum," Robin stated. "Shall we no longer dillydally?"

The two groups nodded to each other and separated, Zoro, Jinbei, and Law leaving the way the one-eyed swordsman had come from while Nami, Billy, Coby, Robin, Brook, and Viola headed due northeast toward the Corrida Colosseum.

"Oi, Coby!" Nami called, the pink-haired Zoan pushing forward in the group to get up beside Nami where she rode on Billy. He took note of the gash on Billy's beak that would probably scar, a new addition since the start of the day.

"What is it?"

"Here." She handed the Devil Fruit to him. "Hold on to that. I don't have any pockets and don't want to leave it in my saddlebag where it might be forgotten."

"You're trusting me with it?" the young man asked. "What if something happens?"

"Then I'd suspect something happened that you deemed it necessary," Nami replied. She offered him a small smile. "We've known each other for years at this point, Coby. If someone eats that Devil Fruit on your watch, then either you're dead already or you gave it to them to save a life."

Coby smiled slightly. "I'm glad you have such faith in me, Nami."

She nodded, turning back to the others and raising her voice. "Well, let's hurry! This war isn't going to win itself!"

End of Chapter73

Read and Review!

-SwordOfTheGods