[122] The Heist (2)

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Chapter 122: The Heist (2)

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It was evening and the sun was setting. The grand sky was red, and the clouds golden. The scenery was warm, the wind lovely, and people were filled with joy and anticipation. The Corrida Colosseum seemed to be the center of the world today, under the eyes of millions across Dressrosa and beyond.

[“Our four winners will now be entering the arena! First of all, Boa Marigold of the Kuja Pirates, youngest sister of the Pirate Empress!”]

The host announced, and Marigold walked in, waving at the crowd.

[“Ooh~ what a beauty! Like everyone, I too wonder how beautiful the oldest sister must be if the youngest is already this gorgeous! No matter, today is Marigold’s day to shine!”]

Then walked in Marianne, her expression blank for the most part though there was a tint of frown present. [“Next is our Marine rising star! A marine competing in a pirate tournament is wild on its own, but it just so happens to be a strong and beautiful woman!”]

Ulti walked in right after, looking excited. [“Here comes the Earth Dragon! The Beast Pirate’s rising star, she who defeated the legendary D- huh? She must have defeated some strong people… Uh, anyway! She takes the place in one of the four corners of the arena, leaving only one empty.”]

The host yelled, [“Now, please welcome the only male winner of the four blocks! Whoosh, it indeed is the era of women, huh! Still, despite all the gorgeous air around the girls, the audience really wants our black horse… or bird… Ra to win!”]

The host cheered, pointing at the last gate, but… nobody walked in.

[“Ah, erm, Ra?”]

After ten seconds of silence, the black-winged and wooden-masked fighter finally walked in. His red sword gleamed on his back due to the sunlight, as he walked into the remaining corner and stood with his arms crossed.

[“There he is! Phew. Now, let us welcome the defenders! Being led by Diamante – the “Hero of the Colosseum”, our guardians that are Senor Pink, Dellinger, Lao G, and Machvise will defend the three devil fruits that belong to Dressrosa!”]

The scene next was spectacular: the middle of the arena parted in a circular motion, and a round disk rose from beneath. Party papers and foam burst in the air, flowing to the arena, as it greeted the five people riding the spinning disk. They posed for the entire country to see, along with the nearby nations too where this tournament was being broadcast live.

The host cheered. [“Despite our likings of the winners, we should be cheering for our heroes! As the fruits belong to Dressrosa, and the participants winning would make our country lose it, we should wish for Lord Diamante to defeat them! May we get to witness a charming battle, everybody!”]

A cheer broke through the crowd and spread through the nearby towns of Dressrosa, and people couldn’t yell more. It was like thousands of birds singing at the same time.

The circular disk fit into place and the minions of Doflamingo waved at the crowd.

Then, suddenly, a massive black fish jumped from the water circling the arena. It had black scales, a shit-eating grin on its face, and large horns. It was larger than the fish in the last matches and had a treasure chest inside its mouth. Most importantly, it had a “01” written on its forehead.

It leaped from one part of the arena, flew over, and fell on the water on the other side of the arena. It honestly looked rather dangerous, being chewed by it didn’t seem fun. Though it didn’t seem this particular “01” would be chewing anybody with that chest stuck between its two teeth.

The host’s voice explained. [“There comes he! A Boss Class Fighting Fish! They can leap and attack, truly a monstrosity! This one won’t be attacking, though. It would be fleeing! So will its next numbersake of “02” and “03”! These three have the three devil fruits in them, though nobody is certain which treasure chest has which one in it!”]

Earlier, the host had explained that the winner will get to choose the fruit they want. Yet, now there were fish swimming with the fruits. It implied that if the fighters somehow manage to grab a chest from the fish, it’s theirs. It was greed, which the defenders hoped to exploit if someone actually tried to grab a fruit instead of going through the normal route.

Sadly, for them. Hashirama Senju never took the normal route. It would be unsightly if he did, after traveling back and forth through the Calm Belt.

[“Now! Begin!”]

As a whistle and gunfire hit the sky, four of the defenders ran toward the four corners. Not something one would expect from “defenders”, with only Diamante waiting in the center of the arena.

Marigold tried to rush at Hashirama to assist him, but Dellinger the brat held her back. Ulti faced Machvise, while Marianne was against Senor Pink. Lao-G the old man, one who matched the old Don Chinjao in the canon timeline, rushed at Hashirama.

Hashirama cared for none of this and clasped his hands. This wasn’t a situation where he would have to use up what he had prepared just earlier, he could take care of this easily by revealing his cards. He was half sure his sister already recognized him anyway.

So, Hashirama clasped his hands and unleashed his chakra.

– Shiiing!

Wind burst around him as the entire colosseum shook under the pressure, while thousands of seeds popped up from the floor of the arena like small crickets. One moment Lao G was just 20 meters away from him, and another moment roots were wrapped around him, while the rest of the seeds grew into two hundred Hashirama and attacked Lao G along with all the other defenders.

The crowd gasped and cheered in awe, and only the guests in the tower noticed what was wrong. Their realization was too late sadly, as the uncountable amount of wood clones, made out of strong Adam Wood tackled the defenders. Coupled with the surprise factor of seeing everything spiral down so fast, it all worked great to make some distractions as a few clones dived into the water.

The clone-ramas wrestled the fighter fishes to get the chests out of their mouths. Being a regenerating chain of soldiers, the clones didn't care for the bites they received and flew upwards with their black wings after retrieving the three chests.

["Woohoo! What is this?! I-"]

The host was doing his commentary thing, while the flying clones began to fly away from the arena, towards the window where Rebecca was waiting.

To his annoyance, one of the wood clones was confronted in midair; it was the last one to have leaped out of the water.

The defenders were too busy, and Ulti was also under a barrage of attacks since she had tried to fight the clones, which meant only two could attack him. Marigold was still on his side, but the marine Marianne had done as she promised. She wasn’t teaming up with him, she had attacked his treasure-chest-carrying clone.

“Bitch.”

She kicked the sky, utilizing Moon Walk, and attacked one of the flying clones. She hadn't tried anything funny before, and due to their blood relationship, even if not the best, Hashirama hadn't used the clones to attack her from the get-go. She used that as a chance to attack one of the three flying clones.

How ungrateful and irritating.

All of this had happened in seconds, as such the Hashirama clone which sadly had its arms occupied, was forced to disperse when the Uzumaki girl attacked it with a chakra-infused Tempest Kick. Her kicks were strong if they could disperse his clone with one shot.

Marianne grabbed the chest, kicking away upwards in the air, as six more Clone-ramas leaped to follow behind her. By the next second, Hashirama was not the only one following though; a flamingo-man burst out of the window of the watchtower and rushed at Marianne with an angry grin.

"Shit!"

Marianne yelled and smashed the chest with her bare hands, breaking it apart and grabbing the treasure. Doflamingo had made the same mistake as the cannon timeline, he had put the real fruit inside the chest! Though it made sense, given the participants were Emperors’ people this time.

From within the chest, came a fruit with orange swirls that Marianne grabbed, her eyes wide.

Just as Doflamingo's hand reached for her throat, the Hashirama clones made a hasty decision to protect her from the man instead of continuing to attack her. Because Doffy was going for a killing blow, to sever her throat with his strings, and despite her annoying Hashirama – he couldn’t let her die.

Noticing the danger around her, Marianne didn't even think as she dug her teeth into the fruit, and… the world turned orange.

"Rooaaarghh!"

The majestic orange sky seemed to focus on a single point, the short figure of Marianne grasping the laws of the sky as her form expanded. One moment she was a normal 1.7-meter tall girl, and the next moment she was a hundred times so! A goliath of 100 meters tall fell from the sky to the stone arena, crushing dozens of Clone-ramas under it, though none of them dispersed.

From the distant watchtower, a punch resounded and fire burst out. The glass windows exploded and a flying black-clad man came out clashing with a white-clad marine woman, both flying off into the sky.

Boa Hancock clashed with Smoothie, their legs shattering stone, and they continued their fight inside the broken tower.

By then, the audience had begun screaming and scrambling off. People realized this was not as nice as it all seemed at first.

– Ddhuuung!

– Boom! Bam!

– Suuuuuuuuiiii!

As nine massive tails struck about, with mindless roars filling the world, her mouth faced the sky as she burst out a black ball of chakra. A tailed beast bomb rushed to the sky and exploded in dark fireworks that covered the entire world.

Doflamingo was nowhere near the ground by then, having defeated the clones already. As if on cue with the exploding beast bomb, Doflamingo, who floated in the sky, launched a thick bundle of strings down at Dressrosa. The strings rained, falling on the borders of the island and sealing it like a Birdcage.

All hell had broken out in the country of love, and despite his slight irritation earlier, Hashirama and all his clones couldn't help but crackle out loud as the strangely maddened Nine Tails wreaked havoc and civilians yelled.

This was beautiful, this was fine. This was the start that’d mark the end of Doflamingo's reign.

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