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Luffy howled to the sky and launched himself at Doflamingo, his fists wrapped in haki as he unleashed a brutal barrage.
Doflamingo suddenly produced shimmering, multicolored threads that stopped Luffy's punch in midair.
Both men activated their Conqueror's Haki, a dark-red power rippling outward in waves.
Every clash between them sent terrifying shockwaves through the air.
Rocks around them shattered from the force.
With haki coiling his body, Luffy lashed out with a fierce kick. Doflamingo answered with one of his own.
Their legs smashed together and a monstrous burst of power exploded outward.
The ground split, boulders flew, and winds howled across the battlefield.
They stared each other down, pouring everything into their attacks.
After colliding, they both stepped back.
Luffy raised his fist and punched again. Doflamingo blocked in an instant.
When Luffy let his guard drop for just a heartbeat, Doflamingo struck with a kick that caught him in the stomach. Luffy flew backward.
Doflamingo's rainbow threads shot out and struck Luffy again.
Law grabbed Cabbage's clothes and shouted, "I dragged him into this fight! I wanted to see it with my own eyes!"
"Let me go, you two, run!" Law cried.
Robin stepped forward. "Trafalgar-kun, the captain of an allied crew stands on equal footing. Luffy came here of his own will."
"He won't fight someone he doesn't want to fight," she added.
Law screamed, pained. "Let me go, please, run! I beg you!"
Cabbage exhaled in relief. "Looks like he can't be persuaded."
"Nico Robin, you need to leave now!" someone urged.
"Thinking about dying isn't something to romanticize," another voice said.
"I'm staying," Robin said.
"Fine then, I'll stay too," someone replied.
"If you die, you die behind me," Law said wildly, eyes wide.
Luffy blasted forward at Doflamingo, haki coiling his fists as he attacked with relentless speed.
They crashed into each other over and over. Every collision sent another terrifying burst of energy through the air. It was an all-out clash of Armament Haki.
Fists met flesh, the two evenly matched and unable to gain the upper hand.
Luffy roared, refusing to back down. With a burst of speed, he landed a solid punch in Doflamingo's gut.
Doflamingo staggered back several steps. Luffy seized the opening and unloaded a furious flurry of blows. A storm of fists filled the sky.
The onslaught left Doflamingo forced to defend, reactionary and pressed.
When the barrage ended, Doflamingo lowered his guard with a chilling laugh.
He twitched his fingers and countless lines of white thread formed a tail in the sky, lunging toward Luffy.
Luffy dodged with speed, but the tails kept multiplying. Doflamingo's string ability was frighteningly fast.
The sky filled with white threads. Doflamingo clenched his hand and all the threads slammed together. Luffy leapt up and landed on one of the white-threaded tails.
"Gear Second!"
Purple steam shimmered over Luffy's body.
"Rubber…"
His fist shot back faster than the eye could follow and the air ignited.
"Red Hawk!"
Haki and flames wrapped his punch as he slammed it toward Doflamingo.
In an instant, like teleporting, Luffy closed the distance. When his fist met Doflamingo, a sea of fire erupted.
The flames blazed like a hellish inferno. Doflamingo was blasted away, hurled into a palace wall.
The entire palace lit up in fire.
Luffy had barely landed when an unsettling laugh froze him.
Doflamingo emerged from the flames like a reaper.
Luffy clenched his teeth. "Damn it."
"Try this on for size," Luffy muttered, and blew into two fingers.
"Gear Third!"
Both of his arms ballooned huge.
He leapt and his giant fists soaked in haki.
"Gomu Gomu no Giant Pistol!"
The massive hands thundered toward Doflamingo.
Doflamingo immediately realized how dangerous the attack was and shot upward, narrowly avoiding the blow.
The two enormous fists smashed into the palace wall and pulverized it.
Doflamingo charged at Luffy from the air. "Your defense is full of holes!"
He slammed a brutal kick into Luffy's face.
The blow sent Luffy flying backward.
Boom.
He crashed through a wall and into a pile of rubble.
Doflamingo dropped onto a single thread and hovered in the air.
"You said Law's attack wouldn't be in vain," he taunted. "When will you ever beat me?"
Luffy lay in the wreckage, hearing the mockery. He opened his eyes and slowly rose, gasping for breath.
Back in the pirate world, Robin's face was stricken with worry. "Luffy!"
"Future Luffy has gotten much stronger, but Doflamingo is terrifyingly powerful," someone said, voice shaking.
Luffy ground his teeth. "Mingo."
"I won't lose to you. Come on, future me, fight! If I can't beat a Warlord, how can I ever become King of the Pirates?"
Sanji brought out a tray of food. "Everyone, eat. I know Luffy'll win."
Usopp chimed in. "Right, we trust Luffy. He won't lose. Let's cheer him on."
...
In the Digital World, the kids had just come through the vampire-beast castle gate back into the real world.
"Tai, we need to find the eighth kid fast. If that vampire monster finds them first, we're in trouble," Sora urged.
Tai nodded and glanced back at the still-glowing screen. If the eighth kid's Digimon showed up on the leaderboard, locating them would be easy.
"Don't lose hope, Tai. I believe we can, like Luffy, climb back up to that top ten anime scenes list." Joe cheered.
"Yeah!" everyone said.
In the Inuyasha world, Naraku sat in his castle asking his puppet Kagura, "Any news on the Shikon Jewel?"
Kagura, who had already turned against him, remained silent. Naraku scowled. "There's that top ten anime scenes list. Why isn't Naraku on it?"
"I will have the complete Shikon Jewel. I will become the most powerful. That list will belong to me eventually."
...
On the screens, Doflamingo spoke, voice cold.
"The time limit is one hour. That's when the Birdcage will be completely closed."
"There will be people who cannot move."
"There will be bedridden elders."
"There will be nursing babies."
"Who will be the first victim?"
"Wait thirty minutes and casualties will begin."
"At forty minutes you'll hear people screaming."
"At fifty minutes this country will be stained bright red, like a crushed tomato."
Luffy's face went dark with rage as he stared at Doflamingo, the man who sounded like a demon.
Doflamingo cackled. "In an hour, there will be no more voices."
"Dressrosa will be wiped out. That's not my concern."
"But those who die will curse you."
"If you and your people had never come here, Dressrosa might have stayed peaceful."
"Shut up," Luffy snarled. "That peace was only skin-deep."
Doflamingo laughed harder. "There are so many injustices in the world. What business is a passing pirate like you to worry about them? They're my business."
Luffy tightened his fists. "No. You've interfered with me. You made my friends cry. You made them suffer."
"If I can't beat you, I'll take it all on myself."
"I won't let anyone die."
"You and your Birdcage are standing in my way."
"..."
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