Capítulo 280: Bunker Buster
"What is Kin'emon wandering around the palace for, anyways? I thought he was looking for that friend of his?" Cherry asked.
"We split up with him a while ago. He's searching the other side of the palace for him while Viola and I came to this side." Sanji explained.
"There isn't anyone else here, I'm certain of that. I suppose we should let him know." Cherry said. "KIN'EMON! THE PALACE IS EMPTY EXCEPT FOR US!"
The others covered their ears and winced. Under normal circumstances it would be absurd to just shout and hope he heard her in a palace of this size, but the sheer volume of that shout was so beyond the range a human should be capable of that it would be stranger if Kin'emon didn't hear her.
A few moments later, Kin'emon came running around the corner dressed as Doflamingo. "Cherry-dono? You say the palace is empty? Are you certain?"
"Of course I'm certain. I wouldn't lie to you… about that." Cherry assured.
"Hm, I see. I did not think it would be difficult to find Kanjuro. He is very conspicuous." Kin'emon said and shook his head.
Cherry glanced out of a window for no particular reason. "Is that him?"
Cherry pointed at a mop of bright red hair atop a pale-face man with a giant paint brush, riding on a large poorly drawn bird in the distance over the city.
"Kanjuro!" Kin'emon exclaimed. "I must go! We shall meet again soon after I have reunited with my compatriot!"
"Let's follow his example. Time's a wastin'! Go go go!" Cherry ushered the rest to move.
After getting back outside they found themselves in the empty area covered in jagged stone where the palace once sat.
*sniff sniff sniff sniff sniff*
Luffy had his nose to the ground when they caught up to him. Presumably he was attempting to sniff Doflamingo out in a literal sense.
It didn't seem to be doing him much good, however, as he kept marching around at random, often backtracking on himself.
As amusing as it was to watch Luffy's bloodhound impression, they were on a bit of a time crunch with the enclosing birdcage.
Sadly, Doflamingo had Princess Mansherry with him. So as much as Cherry would like to simply cave in the hidden bunker and be done with it, they had to search for a proper entrance or tunnel through.
*CRUNCH*
Cherry's spear finally reached her after burrowing back for a little while. It would have been faster, but without a constant stream of vital energy it couldn't make full use of its drill fruit.
Coincidentally, and most fortuitously, it ripped itself out of the ground right through a thick steel bulkhead that was hidden beneath a layer of bedrock. Behind the bulkhead was a staircase leading down into the earth, straight towards Doflamingo's hideaway.
Cherry did her best to give the impression that she meant to do that.
If anyone doubted it, they didn't get the chance to voice that doubt. Luffy was already prying the broken bulkhead open wide enough for him to go inside. The rest followed after him.
Doflamingo and Diamante sensed the incoming danger and heard the distant sound of forcibly warping steel.
"Go on ahead, young master. I'll stall them long enough for the contingency plan to finish. I'll keep Mansherry as a hostage." Diamante spoke with a somber tone. "I'm not much good to you with just one arm, anyways."
Doflamingo studied his face, as if committing it to memory. "You've been a most excellent subordinate. I couldn't have asked for anyone better. Thank you."
"No no, I'm nothing special. You don't mean that." Diamante denied.
"Of course I mean it. Not even Pika and Trebol compare to you." Doflamingo insisted, a single tear spilling down his cheek.
"No, I've always been a useless layabout and we both know it." Diamante countered, a soft, resigned smile on his face.
"I guess you're right. Goodbye." Doflamingo said, turning around to leave.
Diamante shouted at his disappearing back "Alright, I admit it! I'm the best damned right hand man you ever could have had!"
Doflamingo's chuckles were the last Diamante heard of him.
Diamante went to the console that rested below their security feeds from the still living den den mushi spying on Dressrosa. He slammed his remaining hand through a glass box encasing a big red button.
Nothing seemed to happen afterward, but Diamante wasn't surprised by this. He went over to the small animal cage that Mansherry was inside and ripped her out of it.
Holding a knife in his mouth, similar to the way Zoro held his third sword, he brought Mansherry's throat up to the blade.
"Keep quiet. Or I can slice your little head off of your body in less than a tenth of a second." Diamante threatened through gritted teeth.
Mansherry whimpered through her gag, but did her best to suppress it. Large tears streamed down her tiny face as her thoughts turned to Leo, praying for him to come rescue her like a dashing knight in shining armor.
Her delusional fantasies actually helped her to calm down quite a bit.
Diamante faced the entrance from which the pursuers would appear and prepared himself for a face off.
*bang*
Something hit the inner bulkhead.
*Bang!*
Harder this time. Diamante tensed in anticipation.
*BANG!!!*
The bulkhead swung open, hitting the wall hard enough to make a sizable hole in the concrete.
"MINGOOO!" Luffy shouted, raring to go. Soon he realized that his quarry wasn't present. "... Eh? Where is he?"
"Don't move another muscle, Straw Hat; or the tontatta bitch gets it." Diamante threatened, drawing attention to himself and more importantly, to his hostage.
Luffy grimaced angrily. These sorts of cowardly tactics at the expense of the innocent were exactly the kind he hated most. Not that he was one to use tactics that didn't involve punching a guy in the face really hard.
The others streamed into the room after Luffy soon after and most wore similar expressions as Luffy. The exceptions were Law, who kept his face neutral which didn't reveal any inner feelings; and the other was Cherry, who wore an unnerving smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"That goes for the rest of you too! Stay right where you are, or else!" Diamante demanded, spittle flying from his mouth as he shouted.
He was doing a remarkable job of playing a desperate man who has been backed into a corner. Not even Cherry could see any flaws in his mask, but she had other ways of seeing through his act.
'His heart is awfully calm for a cornered rat. Does he just have that much control over himself, even in such a stressful situation, or is he up to something?' Cherry thought. 'Who am I kidding, he's definitely up to something.'
Cherry searched for an opening in which she could guarantee the safety of Princess Mansherry. While she was quite confident that she could rescue the poor girl right now, there was a very slim chance that she could be hurt in the process. A small nick on the neck of a regular sized human girl wouldn't be a big deal, but to Mansherry it might be fatal.
She didn't expect that she would have to make a move here, though. Somebody else should have it covered.
"What do you want, Diamante?" Viola spoke with surprising strength in her voice, though one could still hear the worry hidden beneath it.
"Just stay right where you are. We're gonna do a switcheroo, yeah? You come around to the back here and I'll move around to the door. Nice and slow, no sudden movements." Diamante's eyes didn't blink and kept darting between them.
"Why should we do that?" Law spoke up.
"Because… !!!" Diamante noticed that much of the tension had left their faces and both Law and Cherry were smiling deviously. "When?! When did you open your room?!"
"I never closed it since I switched myself and Kyros here into the palace. It just so happened to envelop this bunker at the same time, to my good fortune." Law explained gently removing Mansherry's gag as she sat on his open palm.
"DON'T COME ANY CLOSER!" Diamante screamed, taking the knife out of his teeth and swinging it about wildly and backing away.
Luffy marched over to him menacingly, intent on knocking every tooth out of his head.
Diamante's frightened expression instantly twisted into a triumphant one filled with malice.
*tick tick tick* *BOBOBOBOBOBOOOOOM*
The bunker erupted in explosions.
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