Lovers' Avenue.
Countless toys reverted back into human beings.
Nami and the others stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
"What is going on? Toys turning back into people…"
Robin fixed her gaze on Monet and immediately noticed the drastic shift in her expression—anxiety deep and unmistakable. Robin gave a small smile.
"Why don't you explain it to us, Monet?"
Monet remained silent.
At that moment, a woman dressed as a maid approached them.
Seeing her, Monet hurriedly asked, "Baby 5, what happened to the Young Master? What about Sugar?"
"I'm only here to invite the Straw Hat Pirates to a banquet…" Baby 5 muttered, a cigarette hanging from her lips. She too was stunned by the changes happening around them. "Did Sugar lose consciousness?"
Not far from Lovers' Avenue, in a narrow alley—
"So all the toys in this country were made by that woman called Sugar?"
Usopp smacked his fist into his palm, looking as if enlightenment had finally struck him.
Chopper gasped. "You're a princess!? Miss Violet!"
"Yohohohoho, what fate awaits this beautiful princess?" Brook sipped his coffee serenely, completely entranced by the unfolding story.
"What princess? Wait—what's happening…?"
Violet suddenly sensed something was off and turned her head toward the street. Toys everywhere were turning back into humans.
Her eyes widened in shock, disbelief filling her voice.
"Sugar lost consciousness!?"
After the initial shock came joy.
What on earth happened in the palace?
She immediately unleashed her clairvoyance and shifted her gaze toward the palace.
---
Corrida Coliseum
A toy soldier with a broken leg suddenly transformed back into a human.
His body was muscular, and he stared at himself in utter disbelief.
His name was Kyros.
"That woman is unconscious!?"
"I'm back to normal!"
"Who did this?"
After a brief moment of confusion, one person came to mind.
Straw Hat Luffy!
Not long ago, he learned that the Straw Hats had arrived on the island.
Having seen the newly crowned Yonko for himself, he felt that man didn't seem like a pirate at all.
He had even hoped that one day Luffy would come to this island and free the kingdom.
So when he heard they had actually arrived, he immediately wanted to find him.
He never expected that before he could even ask for help, they would already solve the kingdom's greatest problem.
"Doflamingo!!"
Now restored, Kyros roared in fury.
Looking around, he saw other former toys turning back into humans.
Some were soldiers of King Riku's former army, some were pirates who had arrived on the island by chance only to be turned into toys, and others were innocent civilians.
"I am Kyros!" he shouted, raising his arms. "Let's reclaim Dressrosa and capture Doflamingo!!"
With that thunderous roar, he seized a long sword and sprinted toward the palace.
---
A small house on the outskirts, far from the city.
A young girl was cooking, waiting for the toy soldiers to return.
Suddenly she froze as long-buried memories resurfaced.
Her name was Rebecca.
She stood motionless, eyes blank, tears falling uncontrollably.
"Father…?"
Memories from when she was six surfaced one after another.
The long-forgotten image of her father grew clearer and clearer.
"Why… would I forget him?"
Wiping her tears, she clenched her teeth, set the cooking tools aside, turned, and left the kitchen.
She grabbed the sword she used for training, put on the armor—admittedly a bit too revealing but lightweight—and dashed toward the palace like someone possessed.
At fourteen years old, Rebecca had resolved to take vengeance with her own hands.
---
The Western Shore of Dressrosa
Sanji served morning tea, handing a cup to Franky before sitting down to enjoy his own calmly.
"What about mine?" Caesar protested immediately. "I haven't eaten anything since last night! I'm starving!"
Bam!
Sanji kicked him flat and then tied him to the mast.
"You're a prisoner. Why would I prepare morning tea for you?"
"But— but doesn't that hurt!? My nose is bleeding…" Caesar whimpered.
"This tea is for Miss Nami, Miss Vivi, Miss Robin, Miss Kaya, Miss Nojiko, Miss Uta, Miss Perona, Miss Valentine…"
As if chanting an incantation, Sanji listed name after name.
Caesar: "…"
Franky paused mid-sip. "Where's Luffy?"
"Oh right." Sanji blinked. "We'll talk about it when they get back."
Suddenly—
He lifted his head toward the city. Even from a distance, the glowing lights were too bright to ignore.
"By the way, what are those things? And it's so loud. Did something happen over there?"
"Who knows."
They kept chatting for a while.
Then, far away in the sky, an enormous shadow emerged.
"What's that?" Franky slapped Sanji's shoulder. "Hey, hey! Look!"
"What?"
Sanji turned his eyes from the city toward the ocean.
Dark, heavy clouds had gathered without notice.
A massive blue figure appeared within them.
Then, a green dragon's head thrust out from the clouds.
"The Straw Hat flag…"
The dragon spoke.
Franky and Sanji's faces changed instantly.
Caesar's face lit up with joy. "I'm here, Kaido!!"
"Shut up!"
Sanji kicked him again before saying firmly,
"Franky, take this guy and go find Luffy. I'll hold him off here!"
The moment he said that, he transformed into a pink dragon and shot into the sky.
Same shape—different color.
One green, one pink. The two dragons stared each other down in midair.
Kaido froze for a moment… then burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!"
He laughed so hard he spun in circles, twisting his massive dragon body through the clouds as if rolling around.
The Pink Dragon—Sanji—still had half a cigarette in his mouth, unwilling to drop it.
Compared to his enormous dragon jaws, the cigarette looked like a single strand of hair.
"What's so funny?"
Furious, Sanji opened his mouth and unleashed a dragon's breath.
Flames surged, forming a massive blaze that shot toward the green dragon.
BOOM!!
A tremendous explosion shook the sky.
"How many times do you think you can laugh!?" Sanji shouted. "I love the color pink—don't think the original can beat the copy!"
(End of Chapter)
A/N: I forgot to mention earlier that I will follow this update format for two weeks as a test: Two chapters every two days.
I want to see if this improves my update rate with all the fics