[A/N:🧍♀️
I can't even justify myself at this point- Funimation was acting weird, Wattpad was acting weird, I'VE been acting weird...
...sorry... :( ]
Moocy jumped over the hill of stone that rounded off Pica's shoulder and began to skid down his back as Luffy let out an excited holler.
Our large group of gladiators had now dwindled to The two newcomers, Jeet and Abdullah, Myself, Law, and of course, Luffy.
Luffy was still leading the charge, sitting as close to the front as usual, resting on Moocy's neck. After he was Law, laying horizontal on the top of Moocy's back, then myself, my legs around the bull's back, with Jeet behind me, and Abdullah behind him.
"Guys, how much longer are you gonna stay on?! Just get off!" Luffy turned slightly, yelling back at the two men behind me, who just waved off Luffy's words.
"I know you're kidding, Straw Hat!~" [Jeet and Abdullah]
Luffy ignored them and smiled back at Moocy. The bull was avoiding rubble like it was skiing, moving left and right and leaving tracks of dust in our wake, "You're doing great, Moocy! You're amazing! We'll get to Mingo before anyone else like this!"
After a few beats of silence, his silence finally ceased.
"Hey, Straw Hat." [Law]
I glanced down at his figure, but his eyes were glued to the sky as if he couldn't look at us. Luffy looked back at him as Law continued, "I know the only way for us to survive now is to kill him. I've made up my mind, too."
He gave a soft sigh, then barely glanced in Luffy's direction, "The plan that I suggested to you guys was to take down Doflamingo indirectly. But, to be honest, I... want to hurt him directly, too... I was beaten earlier, but I won't this time!" Law spoke, growing more and more agitated. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than us.
He watched the Birdcage of strings for a while before slowly closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, "Thirteen years ago, there was someone I adored... and Doflamingo killed him! His name was Corazon. The former top executive of the Doflamingo Family!"
I widened my eyes in surprise.
'So Law used to be close to a member of the Donquixote Family? Not to mention a top executive.'
"What?! Was he a member of his clan?" [Luffy]
"Yes, he was. He also saved my life, and was... Doflamingo's biological... younger brother." [Law]
I felt my surprise turn into anger. Who would kill their brother? Law almost continued, but Abdullah pointed down Pica's back, "Straw Hat, we're almost to the first level. There are so many enemies there!"
Luffy smiled, no longer looking at Law, "Yeah! We're the first to arrive! No one's here yet!" Moocy let out a noise of... I think determination, and Luffy pat its head, "Well done, Moocy!"
The enemies started to shoot at us, and Luffy blew himself into a balloon to stop them and send the bullets back, but I couldn't help but stare at Law. He was avoiding everyone's eyes now. I'm sure he was thinking about whatever happened with this Corazon person. I felt bad, especially since it was rare to see Law this... vulnerable.
Luffy was easily taking care of the goons working for Doflamingo that stood in our way, and I tore my eyes from Law, looking around.
'So we've made it to the king's plateau, now we have to make our way up.'
"Outta my way!" [Luffy]
"You're in Straw Hat's way..." [Abdullah]
"Don't stand in his way, you idiots!" [Jeet]
"Wha- OI! Don't you stand behind me either! Get off!" [Luffy]
"Don't say that! Let us follow you!" [Abdullah]
"Straw Hat!" [Jeet]
"What's wrong with these guys..." [Luffy]
Cheering for the Bull (minus Law and I) continued as Moocy and Luffy took enemies out left and right. It seemed like nothing could slow us down...
"Go! Go! Go!" Luffy cheered for Moocy. But then stopped and leaned forward trying to see something, making the rest of us do the same.
'There's already a fight ahead of us going on- Is that... a dust cloud with sparkles?'
Suddenly, the dust cleared, and a face that kept showing up made us all gasp. Moocy slammed on brakes, making Law almost fall over Luffy, me almost falling over Law, if not for him holding his leg up, and the two behind me almost falling over me, if not for Law's leg.
We all stared forward as Luffy mumbled, "Cabbage?!"
The dust cloud cleared completely as I shoved the two behind my back so I could sit up off of Law, and there he was, riding on his white stallion.
"Is he... posing?" I mumbled.
He had another rose in his mouth and when he finally eliminated the last adversary, he took the rose from his mouth and looked up at us.
"Straw Hat! I'm gonna go first!" he called to us, then laughed as he continued riding away from us.
"Damn! I thought I was taking a shortcut!" Luffy grumbled as we watched Cavendish's fleeting figure, "Go way, way faster, Moocy!" Luffy commanded, and Moccy started off again. Looking up, we could see the other contestants just now climbing up the plateau.
'So I guess our timing was just about the same...'
"Oh, no! They're gonna get ahead of me!"
Moocy continued to jump around, dodging bullets as Luffy just sent them back, and for the two of us who were still handcuffed, it was hard to stay balanced, more so for Law since he was lying on his back. Luffy, and now Jeet and Abdullah started taking out enemies, but they just kept coming, and Law noticed before me, turning to Luffy.
"I see no end to this," he grumbled, and Luffy looked back at him.
"I'm gonna take out all of them!" Before Luffy could act on his words, someone made Moocy stop in his tracks. It was a man, but I can't remember where I saw him from... maybe the Colosseum?
"...Who's that?" [Luffy]
"Hey, don't say such a thing!" The man said, turning to the six of us, "I was a contender in Block C, same as you."
"Were you?" Luffy asked bluntly.
"Hey, hey, hey! We were saved by God Ussop, like the others! I found a shortcut to reach the higher levels! You can make it to the sunflower field– right in front of the palace!"
"What? Really?!" Luffy smiled as the familiar man ran past us.
"Yeah! Follow me! I wanna help you!"
"Alright! We're gonna overtake Cabbage and the others in a single spurt!" Luffy cheered and commanded Moocy to follow the man. But clearly, some of us had our suspicions.
"Hey, Straw Hat!" Law spoke up, "When can I get these handcuffs off? With these Sea Prism Stone shackles, I'm just going there to get killed by Doflamingo. The same goes for Red Wood." Law said, not turning his head from Luffy.
"I agree. I feel like that should be the priority." I looked at Luffy when he looked up at me. He then looked between the two of us and chuckled with a big smile.
"Well, it'll work itself out! Let's just go!"
"How can you be so sure?!" Law snapped, "Go back to the plateau where we were before, then!"
"Hm? Why?" [Luffy]
"I'll look for the keys! This fight's gonna be win or die!" [Law]
We turned a corner when the man who called himself 'Kelly Funk' stopped, pointing to what looked like the entrance to a mineshaft. Abdullah and Jeet praised him for his kindness, but the deep feeling returned to my gut. I glanced at Law, knowing he felt the same thing.
Luffy called for Moocy to charge in, which he did, and I turned around, watching Kelly Funk. Abdullah and Jeet were standing on Moocy, praising Kelly Funk, but unfortunately for them, they were too tall, and hit the top of the mine, falling at the entrance as we charged in.
"They... fell?" I mumbled, as Law, Luffy, and I all stared back at the entrance with wide eyes.
"They fell... what did they want, after all?" Law mumbled, just as shocked as Luffy and I.
"Alright! Don't worry and keep going, Moocy!" Luffy said, to which Moocy responded positively, and I turned to Luffy.
"Luffy, please be careful. Someone you beat in the Colosseum offered us help, and that's kind of sketchy..." I mumbled as Luffy looked back at me.
Pura, pura, pura...
Luffy and I both stopped and looked down at Law, who looked down at his jacket. Luffy mumbled, "Your transponder snail..."
Law maneuvered his hand to hold up the snail, still handcuffed together, "Get it."
"Hello? I'm Luffy! The man who will be King of the Pirates!"
"Luffy, it's me." [Robin]
"Robin!" [Luffy]
"We're still at the Plateau you were at before. Where are you?" [Robin]
"We're at the first level of the other plateau and heading to a place called the sunflower field." [Luffy]
"Viola found the key to the cuffs for Traffy and (Y/N)." [Robin]
"Oh, yeah?!" [Luffy]
"Nico! Get them to us as soon as possible! What do you need me to do?!" [Law]
"Hello, this is Leo of the Tontatta tribe. We're gonna escort Rebecca, Rooster Big Human, and Robiland there at a super high speed!" [Leo]
"Let's meet up at the Sunflower Field on the Fourth Level." [Robin]
"Thank you, Robin!" I cheered, hoping she could hear me.
As soon as I spoke, the sound of someone yelling excitedly came through on the other end, causing Luffy, Law, and I to all be confused for a moment, before Luffy spoke, "How will you guys catch up with us?!"
"I'll explain later! Meet you at the Sunflower Field!" [Leo]
The transponder snail hung up, and Luffy put it in his pocket, then turned to us with a stupid grin, "See? I told you it would work out!"
"You're so lucky! "I grumbled.
"It's just a coincidence!" Law barked.
As we kept going through the tunnel, I noticed it getting damper, more frequent puddles and drips from the ceiling. As well, this should be taking us to the third floor, but we've not had a single incline yet. This was weird... In fact...
"Hey, Luffy?" I mumbled, making Law and Luffy turn to me, "Doesn't it feel like this path is going... down?"
"I was thinking the same thing," Law nodded.
"Come to think of it-" Luffy mumbled, but was cut off by Moccy's hooves making a splash in what sounded like a large puddle.
"Stop! This place is flooded!" Law barked, and Moocy slowly to a stop when the water was above her legs. It looked like we were just sitting on a fuzzy raft as I looked down at the water. The stone tunnel was so dark, it was hard to see almost anything.
"Huh? But he told us this was a shortcut to the Sunflower field..." Luffy said, confused.
"He was probably wanting revenge for when you beat him in the Colosseum." [(Y/N)]
After a moment of silence, Luffy gasped, "EH?! It's a dead end?!"
"What?!" [(Y/N)]
"Go back! Hurry!" [Law]
Suddenly, Moccy started moving back and forth, and Luffy looked down, "M-Moocy, don't panic!"
Suddenly, I got a shiver up my spine, as I heard footsteps behind us, and clearly, so did Law and Luffy, because everyone froze.
"Someone's coming," Luffy said quietly, turning around to look behind us, as did Law and I.
I only heard the footsteps, my eyes not used to the dark quite yet, but the closer it became, the more my jaw dropped in fear... as well as Luffy's and Law's. An eerie and unfortunately familiar voice echoed through the passageway.
"This is just a slanted water tunnel. There is no such shortcut in here."
Everyone was too shocked to say or do anything when we all realized who it was.
It was Doflamingo.
His footsteps echoed in the dark stone corridor, as well as his dark chuckle, "Look at you three, huddled together in your little hole. Should I take those handcuffs off for you? Or should I cut your wrists along with them?"
"I thought you were at the palace--" Luffy barked, winding up his arm as Doflamingo came closer, before sending it in his direction, "-- what are you doing down here?!"
Doflamingo simply raised an arm, blocking Luffy's punch, and his fist ricocheted off the walls. When Luffy reeled his fist back in, Doflamingo chuckled, "I came to rescue you, of course! You clearly need help if you're falling for traps like this. I'll put you out of your misery."
Doflamingo slowly raised his hand, formed like a finger gun.
"Be careful!" Law called, but was too late, as something, only glistening in the little light of the tunnel penetrated Moocy, sounding almost like a gunshot. Moocy cried out in pain, before Doflamingo called the move 'Bullet String', and sent five more, all directly hitting Moocy.
Moocy's legs couldn't hold up for much longer, teetering slightly toward the water.
'If we all fall in, we're done...!'
"Moocy!-" [Luffy]
"Forget the BulL! Get away!" [Law]
Moocy toppled sideways as Law spoke, the opposite direction of Doflamingo, which was further into the water. I fell in back first, onto my cuffed hands, and held my breath, though it was virtually useless. Luffy fell in as well, but I think Law managed to hook onto Moocy's body.
Thankfully, the water wasn't too deep, so I managed to get my legs under me enough to lean onto Moocy and stick my head above the water. As I did, I saw Luffy quietly and tiredly speaking to Moocy, "Don't die, Moocy. It's okay..."
There was a moment of silence before I heard Doflamingo speak again. I couldn't see him from behind Moocy. The only one who could see everyone was Law, though barely, "What a joke. Look at you. Any clown could kill you in this sorry state," He chuckled, "You've riled up quite an army of idiots out there, thinking they can take my head."
He was speaking slowly, meticulously, as if he didn't want us to miss a word, "You are quite adept at bringing people to your side, no matter how foolish it may seem. I've admired that quality of yours since I saw it on display during the battle at Marineford. But now? I see you're just some fool whose luck has finally run out. Why did you side with this idiot, Law?"
"When you were young, I thought you showed a great deal of promise. Even as a child, you were more cunning than this and more ruthless. Am I wrong?" he paused for a moment, "I'm so disappointed. Who made you into such a miserable coward-" [Doflamingo]
"That's enough!" [Law]
Threw was a pause, and tiredly looking up at Law, I could tell just how angry he was.
"You listen! I'm not gonna be like you! 'Cause I... I've been saved!" [Law]
Doflamingo chuckled again, "By my dear brother, Corazon, you mean?"
'That name...'
"You're worse than a coward. You're useless. You made a choice. Not only to die in vain but to do it alongside this imbecile." [Doflamingo]
There was a long pause, and I could tell Law was giving a death stare to Doflamingoi, but I could not see Doflamingo himself.
Suddenly, from the quiet, two familiar voices appeared.
"Don't you dare! Keep your hands off of Straw Hat!" [Jeet]
"Or you'll be sorry!" [Abdullah]
"...those two again...?" I mumbled out, trying to use any strength to peek over Moocy, But all of my focus was on keeping above the water.
I winced at what sounded like a stabbing noise, unable to see who was hurt, before hearing Jeet and Abdullah freak out. Though, they didn't sound hurt... what happened?
Unfortunately, I heard Doflamingo chuckle once more, an eerie one that sent a chill up my spine as Jeet and Abdullah kept freaking out.
"What is this?!" [Abdullah]
"It's creepy!" [Jeet]
"It's not the real thing– it's just a clone!" Law called to the two, "A puppet, made of string.
'Of course, it's just a clone... just like when he split into two people in the palace...'
I heard something fall, most likely Doflamingo's puppet.
"Thank you, guys..." Luffy groaned out quietly.
"Are you okay?" Abdullah called to us.
"Let's get 'em out of that water, already!" [Jeet]
"Right!" [Abdullah]
Soon, there were footsteps, before splashing, and then I caught sight of Abdullah on my side of the bull, as Jeet asked if we were hurt. Abdullah put his hands under my arms and lifted me out of the water, putting me on Moocy's back, as Jeet did the same to Luffy.
"Ugh. You saved us... thank you." Luffy said, exhausted.
I looked up, my chin resting on Moocy's back as I looked into the tunnel. Doflamingo's puppet was still there. At least half of it was. The sound of falling I heard was the puppet falling to its knees.
'Doflamingo must have not dodged being stabbed, and his top half must have turned to strings, which is probably what freaked out these two... Although, I can't blame them. I couldn't even see, and I was freaked out...'
"Awe, it was nuthin'!" [Jeet]
"One question. Did we win? He's just legs now. That's the guy we were supposed to fight at the palace, right?" Abdullah asked, turning towards the bottom half of the pouppet.
'Actually, now that I see it, it's even creepier. The strings from its bottom half are still wriggling around...'
"Moron! I just told you! It's only a puppet. Though I don't know why he bothered to send one all the way here..." Law mumbled.
"Knowing him, probably just to gloat..." I grumbled out, trying to sit up on Moocy.
"But, does he wanna taunt us that badly?" Law asked. He was right, though. Doflamingo seems smarter than that. There must be a reason for his trip.
Luffy sat up as well and helped me sit up the rest of the way, "He said he was gonna rescue us."
"Oh! That reminds me!" Jeet said loudly, "That Kelly Funk guy from before. He tricked us! Everything that bastard said was a lie!" He then explained to us that Kelly Funk was not working with Doflamingo, because Doflamingo ambushed him and two others, taking them down in a split second, even though Kelly Funk was a trained assassin.
'I knew it, it was a trap! But, if it wasn't set by Doflamingo, then was his trip down seriously a fluke...?'
"Aw man, that's not fair! Mingo did rescue me! Traffy's right! He's laughing at us! How's Cabbage doing? Is he beating us?" [Luffy]
As Luffy, Jeet, and Abdullah spoke, I glanced at Law, who was watching the legs of the puppet, like a hawk. I sighed, "I think we both know he didn't come down here just to laugh..." I mumbled, and he nodded.
Law thought for a moment, before interrupting one of Luffy's tantrums, "Hurry back to the entrance!"
"...No!" [Luffy]
"...Huh?" [Law and (Y/N)]
"I'll make us a shortcut. Just watch me!" [Luffy]
"What are you–" [Law]
"All we gotta do is go up. That's easy enough!" [Luffy]
In a split second, Luffy got to work. He sent an entire Elephant gun through the roof, quickly and easily shattering through the cement roof with his Armament Haki.
While he punched the Hole, he wrapped his other arm around Law. When he pulled back the arm he used for the Elephant gu, He grabbed me as well, holding me under his free arm.
"Alright, guys. Let's go!" [Luffy]
"We could've been crushed!" Law grumbled through grit teeth.
"Hey, guys! You take care of Moocy for me, okay?" [Luffy]
He tossed me on top of law then stretched his arm up to the ceiling, before slingshotting us to the top.
(NEXT CHAPTER COMES THE SURPRISE!~)