"Come and be my son, Doflamingo."
"Huh?" Doflamingo was stunned. Clang—his cane dropped to the ground. Trebol's jaw fell open, Diamante, the tall one, looked just as dumbfounded, and even Pica, who had just broken free from his restraints, froze in place.
Gulp. With veins bulging on his forehead and seemingly recalling some traumatic memory, Doflamingo gritted his teeth. "What… did… you just say?"
"I said—be my son, Doflamingo."
"Bastard! Go to hell! A future king needs no father! Overheat!" Roaring, Doflamingo suddenly charged and kicked. Five transparent threads followed the sweep of his leg, lashing toward Aogami.
Boom boom boom—
"Holy crap!" Aogami narrowly dodged and cold sweat dripped down his back as he looked at the trees behind him that had been sliced into pieces.
"Bullet Strings: Starlight Burst." With a low shout, rapid "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds filled the air as over a dozen thin threads shot at Aogami like bullets.
"Hado #63: Raikōhō!"Zzzap! A bolt of lightning blasted from Aogami's palm, smashing through the incoming threads and continuing straight toward Doflamingo.
"What?!" Doflamingo was shocked. The lightning not only disrupted his attack, but it was still coming straight at him.
"Crescent Moon Funeral."
Shing! Just as the lightning was about to hit Doflamingo, a slash intercepted it. A thunderous boom echoed as the two attacks collided midair.
"You okay, Doffy?" Diamante had just arrived in front of Doflamingo and asked with a grim face.
"I-I'm fine," Doflamingo replied.
"Doffy, this guy is just toying with us. I say we go with Plan B," Trebol said, snot dripping from his nose.
"Agreed." Finally regaining his senses, Doflamingo's face turned dark. "He dared to mock me—I'll make him pay a price he can't afford."
"Doffy, let me handle it!" Pica's sharp voice rang out again, and the ground began to rumble. In no time, a fifty-meter-tall stone giant rose before them.
"No," Doflamingo said coldly. "We'll attack together. Don't give him a chance to turn this around."
"Doffy's right," Diamante agreed.
"Then let me grab him first."
"Sticky Launcher!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
"Ugh, gross." Aogami sneered as sticky globs flew at him. He responded by launching a Fire Blast.Boom! All the projectiles exploded in a fiery eruption.
"Damn it! He can use fire?!" Trebol's expression changed. His slime exploded on contact with fire—one hit and he'd be toast.
"Let me handle this." Pica's sharp voice came again. The fifty-meter stone giant raised its fist and hurled it toward Aogami.
"Hado #88: Hiryugekizokushintenraiho!"Buzz!A massive column of lightning, far more powerful than the previous one, streaked through the air and struck the giant's fist.
"No way!" Pica's disbelieving screech echoed as the fist cracked and crumbled on contact. In a flash, the lightning pierced the giant's body and detonated with a deafening explosion.
Boom!
Pica's smoking, scorched body slammed hard into the ground in the distance. No one could tell if he was still alive.
"Um… maybe I overdid it," Aogami murmured casually.
Gulp.
Doflamingo and the others swallowed hard in unison.
"D-Doffy… I think we messed with the wrong guy," Trebol said, face pale. Of all of them, he could most clearly sense the devastating power of Aogami's earlier attack.
"Trebol, take Doffy and Pica and run. I'll hold him off." With a shout, Diamante slapped his palm to the ground. "Unfurl—Army Flag!"
Buzz!Ripples of mysterious power spread across the ground. Suddenly, the ground beneath Aogami turned into fluttering cloth.
"Trying to escape? That won't do." Aogami's figure flashed, rushing straight at them.
"What the—he's walking in the air?!" Diamante's eyes widened as he saw Aogami sprinting on air toward them. He raised his sword and slashed—a giant sword wave surged toward Aogami.
"Cry out—North Wind."
A light whisper followed by a blue slash that sliced Diamante's sword wave in two like tofu, and it kept going straight for him.
"What a sharp slash!" Diamante's face contorted in panic. He raised his sword to block, but—Sparks flew—Crack!The blade shattered and the slash continued, magnified in Diamante's terrified eyes.
Splurt! A burst of blood exploded from Diamante's chest.
"Aaaargh!"
"Diamante!" Trebol shouted.
Step… step…Aogami calmly walked toward them. "Now then, Doflamingo—have you reconsidered what I said earlier?"
"Doffy, run!" Trebol, feeling Aogami's terrifying aura, shoved Doflamingo away and shouted. Sticky slime rose like a wave and surged at Aogami.
"This flammable goop? Useless."Aogami launched another Fire Blast.BOOM!A huge explosion just as powerful as Hado #88 lit up the battlefield, engulfing the entire area in thick white smoke.
Seconds later, when the smoke cleared, Aogami stood alone in the wreckage, dazed.
"Damn… they got away? Was it Pica with his Stone-Stone Fruit powers? So he was playing dead, huh. Guess my Hado #88 didn't hit his real body. If it had, he'd be vaporized by now."
"Ah well, they ran—nothing I can do." Shrugging, Aogami turned back toward the town. Time to see if there were any seriously injured civilians who needed his help.
Meanwhile, at the port of Crocodile Island, a pirate ship carrying Doflamingo and his crew was sailing away at full speed.
Onboard, as Crocodile Island grew smaller in the distance, Doflamingo still felt a lingering sense of dread.
"Doffy, even though we failed this time, don't take it too hard. You've got what it takes to be king. That Aogami guy—you'll surpass him one day. Then we'll come back for revenge."
"Yeah." Doflamingo nodded firmly, silently committing this humiliation to memory.
"Oh no! Doffy, hurry—use your powers to stitch up Diamante's wounds! If he keeps bleeding like this, he won't make it!" Trebol shouted, panicked at the sight of the blood-soaked deck.
Seeing the red-stained boards, Doflamingo's expression darkened. "Got it."
Back in town, after treating the wounded, Aogami found there wasn't much else to do. He stayed behind to help repair the houses that had been destroyed…