The southeastern beach of Green Bit was quiet. The waves washed against the sand in a slow, rhythmic pattern.
Trafalgar Law stood near the tree line, his eyes tracking the horizon. He checked his pocket watch. Three o'clock. The deadline was approaching.
Behind Law, the group he had brought from the Straw hats waited.
Monkey D. Luffy sat cross-legged on a piece of driftwood, picking his nose. Roronoa Zoro leaned against a giant palm tree, his arms crossed, eyes closed, catching a quick nap.
Behind them stood the true deterrent. Dorry, Brogy, Oimo, and Kashii stood looking like burly, heavily armored vikings. Despite their normal human size and weight, their sheer warrior aura remained entirely intact. Their presence still felt like standing next to a mountain.
"Is the pink bird-man coming?" Brogy rumbled.
"Patience," Law said, not looking back. "He will come. We hold Caesar. We hold the cards."
The bushes at the edge of the beach rustled. Heavy boots crunched on the sand.
Law gripped the hilt of Kikoku. Zoro opened one eye.
It was not Doflamingo. Dozens of Marine soldiers marched out of the jungle, led by two stern Vice Admirals with their coats billowing in the wind. They formed a perimeter along the shoreline. The soldiers looked at the pirate group, their hands shaking as they gripped their weapons.
The ranks parted. A blind man wearing a purple robe and carrying a wooden cane stepped forward. Admiral Fujitora walked with slow, deliberate steps until he stood ten paces from Law.
Law narrowed his eyes. "An Admiral and two Vice Admirals. The Navy mobilized quickly."
Fujitora stopped. He rested both hands on his cane. "Pardon the intrusion. The world has grown quite loud today. The morning paper claimed Donquixote Doflamingo resigned from the Warlords. Navy Headquarters dispatched me to investigate and secure the area."
Fujitora turned his head slightly, his unseeing eyes facing Luffy. "I sense an incredible presence here. Several, in fact. Trafalgar Law. You are a recognized Warlord of the Sea. As such, the World Government grants you certain liberties."
Law stayed quiet. He waited.
"I have a simple question," Fujitora continued, his voice calm but carrying the weight of the ocean. "The newspaper also claims you formed an alliance with the Straw Hat Pirates. If Monkey D. Luffy is working under your command as a subordinate, I will turn around and leave. A Warlord may employ grunts. However, if this is an equal alliance... that is a severe crime. I will revoke your title and arrest you both right here."
Law analyzed the situation. It was a clear, massive loophole. Fujitora was offering him a way out. All Law had to do was lie. He just needed to say the word 'subordinate', and the Admiral would leave them to handle Doflamingo.
Law opened his mouth to speak.
"Nope!" Luffy shouted cheerfully.
Law froze. He slowly turned his head.
Luffy stood up from his driftwood. He brushed sand off his shorts, grinned widely, and pointed a thumb at his chest. "We are friends! Tra-guy is my buddy! And I am going to be the King of the Pirates!"
Total silence fell over the beach.
The Vice Admirals clenched their jaws. The Marine soldiers dropped theirs. They looked at Luffy as if he had just jumped off a cliff. The Admiral had literally handed them a get-out-of-jail-free card, and this pirate had ripped it up, set it on fire, and laughed at it.
Law dragged a hand down his face. A vein throbbed in his forehead. "Luffy-ya. I despise you."
"Gegyagyagya!" Dorry laughed, slapping his knee. "The captain speaks his mind!"
"He has no filter!" Kashii chuckled.
Fujitora tilted his head. A small smile crossed his face. "Honesty. A rare trait in this era. Very well."
Before Fujitora could draw his blade, the sky shrieked.
A sharp, whistling wind tore through the clouds above. The marines looked up.
"Fufufufufu!"
Donquixote Doflamingo dropped out of the sky. He landed on the sand with a heavy thud, his pink feather coat flaring out behind him. He stood up, adjusting his red sunglasses. A wide, psychotic grin stretched across his face.
Law tightened his grip on his sword. "Joker."
Doflamingo ignored Law. He looked at Fujitora. "An Admiral. How troublesome. You marines always stick your noses where they don't belong."
Fujitora turned his head toward the Warlord. "Donquixote Doflamingo. You renounced your title this morning. You are a pirate once more. My orders are to capture you as well."
"Is that so?" Doflamingo chuckled. The chuckle grew into a full, manic laugh. "You should check your sources, blind man. That newspaper article was false news. A misprint. I never resigned."
Law stepped forward. "Do not lie. The entire world read the paper."
"The world reads what it is told to read," a cold voice echoed.
From the shadows of the jungle, five figures stepped onto the sand. They wore crisp white suits and strange, theatrical masks.
CP0. The strongest intelligence agency of the World Government.
The lead agent stopped beside Doflamingo. "The report is confirmed. The morning paper was an error. Donquixote Doflamingo retains his status as a Warlord of the Sea and the King of Dressrosa. Navy Command has already been notified."
"Fufufufu," Doflamingo sneered, turning his attention fully to Law. "You thought you had me cornered, Law? You thought you could force my hand? You are a child playing a man's game."
Doflamingo held out his hand. "Now. Where is Caesar? Hand him over."
Law steadied his breathing. The plan had failed. The leverage was gone. But he wasn't alone anymore. He looked at Luffy. He looked at Zoro. He looked at the four warriors standing behind them.
"No," Law said flatly. "You broke the deal. The resignation was a lie. You get nothing."
Doflamingo's grin vanished. A thick, dark vein bulged on his forehead. His fingers twitched. "You arrogant brat. I taught you everything you know. I will peel the skin from your bones. I will make you wish you were dead."
"I do not care about your threats," Law replied, his voice absolute ice. "You lost control of this situation the moment you broke the deal."
Fujitora slammed the base of his wooden cane into the sand.
The impact echoed like a gunshot. The marines stood at attention. Doflamingo paused.
"I have no interest in the underworld deals between pirates," Fujitora stated, his voice dropping an octave. He turned his face toward Law. "I asked you a question earlier, Trafalgar Law. The answer determines your fate. I will ask you one final time. Are you and the Straw Hats in an alliance, or are they your subordinates?"
Law didn't hesitate. He didn't look at Luffy. He stared directly at the Admiral.
"We are in an alliance," Law declared.
Fujitora nodded slowly. "Very well. You leave me no choice."
The Admiral gripped the hilt of his sword hidden within his cane. He drew the blade two inches.
The air pressure plummeted. The gravity on the beach intensified. The marine soldiers and the two Vice Admirals dropped to their knees, gasping for breath as the invisible weight pushed them into the sand.
High above the island, past the clouds, past the atmosphere, in the cold vacuum of space, a massive rock shifted its trajectory.
The sky ignited.
The clouds above Green Bit tore open. A ring of fire expanded across the sky. The heat instantly evaporated the moisture in the air.
A meteor. A literal, burning asteroid the size of a mountain plummeted directly toward the beach. The friction of its descent screamed in the ears of everyone present.
Doflamingo looked up. His glasses reflected the roaring flames. "You insane old man! You will kill us all!"
Luffy looked at the burning sky. "Whoa. That's a big rock."
Zoro cracked his neck. He stepped past Luffy. He stepped past Law. He reached to his hip and gripped the hilt of Shusui, the black blade.
"I've got the middle," Zoro stated calmly.
Zoro drew his sword. He bent his knees. He swung his arm upward in a single, fluid motion.
Advanced Armament Haki and Supreme King's Haki exploded from his blade in a massive, terrifying arc of black lightning. The flying slash shot into the sky, colliding directly with the falling meteor.
The meteor did not resist. It split. The mountain of burning rock cleaved perfectly in two, the sheer force of Zoro's swing pushing the two halves apart.
Law reacted instantly to the left half falling toward him. He raised his hand.
"Room."
A blue dome of spatial energy expanded, covering his side of the beach.
"Tact."
Law swung his finger, pointing directly at the grinning Warlord across the beach. The left half of the meteor hit the blue dome and abruptly reversed its momentum. Law redirected the massive chunk of burning rock, sending it hurtling over the sand straight toward Doflamingo.
Doflamingo didn't flinch. His smile widened into a manic, psychotic grin. He swiped his hand through the air, his fingers twitching like a puppeteer. Razor-sharp, nearly invisible strings shot from his fingertips, forming a massive, reinforced net.
The burning meteor slammed into the string net. Instead of crushing the Warlord, the massive rock was instantly sliced into hundreds of perfectly even, flaming cubes. The cubes rained down around Doflamingo, plunging into the sand and sending plumes of steam into the air, leaving him standing completely unharmed in the center of the fiery debris.
On the right side of the beach, the second half of the meteor plummeted toward the pirate group.
Brogy didn't step back. He planted his boots firmly in the sand, his massive frame radiating an immense, terrifying aura. He pulled his right arm back, gripping his Uru battle-axe with both hands. The steel of the axe blade began to hum, glowing with a condensed, swirling mass of Armament Haki.
"Gegyagyagya! A falling star!" Brogy roared.
He swung his battle-axe forward with bone-shattering force, aiming directly at the burning sky.
"Hakoku Sovereignty!"
A massive, cylindrical blast of pure, destructive shockwave energy erupted from his axe. The sheer, overwhelming warrior strength of Elbaf tore through the air, colliding head-on with the descending meteor half.
CRAAAAACK.
The sound shattered the windows of the marine battleship docked offshore. The Hakoku shockwave completely obliterated the flaming rock, boring a perfect hole right through it before the pressure shattered the rest into dust and harmless pebbles. It rained down over the beach like a heavy, fiery snowfall.
The beach fell dead silent again. The heat dissipated.
Fujitora stood in the center of the ash. He sheathed his sword.
Zoro slid Shusui back into its scabbard with a sharp click. Law lowered his hand. Brogy rested his axe on his shoulder, grinning happily at the warlord and the admiral.
Doflamingo stared at the three men. His manic grin was completely gone. His hands hung at his sides. For the first time since he arrived, the King of Dressrosa realized he had severely underestimated the crew he was dealing with.