Brawl in The Birdcage! Part 1

~Dabi~

Things continued to ramp up as we all stared at the large screen displayed on the wall, from what we could gather from Doflamingo's words echoing throughout the city. He was using his power to keep us trapped in what he so gracefully called his "Birdcage".

Who knows when that happened, 'I suppose this means Eraser and Law are fine, that or chained in a dungeon somewhere.' His rant continued, spouting words to spread fear amongst the civilians and ruffians. 'That's exactly what he's after, he wants us to tear each other apart.' And it was working, if the screams from above were any clue.

"Think…Will you try to kill me!? Or will you, together with the Donquixote family….Punish those 13 fools that opposed? If you make the wrong choice this game won't end. 100,000,000 belly for each star!!! They are the real "convicts" of Dressrosa!!!"

The list was as follows:

One-Stars; Corrida Colosseum Prisoner Gladiator, Rebecca. Straw-Hat Pirate Crew Devil's Child, Nico Robin. Samurai from Wanokuni, Kinemon of the Will-O'-The-Wisp. Dressrosa Ex-Princess, Viola. Straw-Hat Pirate Crew, The Cyborg Franky.

Two-Stars; Straw-Hat and Heart Pirate Affiliate, Eraserhead. Dressrosa Ex-Captain of The Army, Curos. Straw-Hat Pirate Crew, The Pirate Hunter.

Three-Stars; General Officer of The Revolutionary Army, Sabo. Straw-Hat Pirate Crew Captain, Straw-Hat Luffy. Captain of The Heart Pirates Ouka Shichibukai, The Death Surgeon Trafalgar Law. Dressrosa Ex-King Riku Doldo III.

Everyone exclaimed, gossiping about the bounties and big names. "Hey Hey, no fair. Eraser gets a bounty but I don't? Who's the real criminal now?"

Sabo exclaimed his surprise at his bounty, which I honestly thought he would expect. The guy isn't exactly doing his best to hide, not to mention none of them noticed the honestly impressingly good photographer taking everyone's pictures. I doubt I would have noticed him if it wasn't for the fact that he accidentally left his flash on.

Thinking about it more, I wouldn't be surprised if this guy was the one who took mine back then. Though every press busy body might just be this good, that would be believable. They're practically superheroes when it comes to the newest story, have to be good to get the best pay.

Leaving the others to marvel at the screen, I strolled up behind the photographer as he snapped a picture of Usopp's pitiful state. Smirking, I slid my left hand into my pocket as I wrapped the other around the guy. He jumped as his head whipped towards me, his face immediately paled as sweat beaded at his temple. Leaning in as I pulled him closer, I glanced over at the others as they ran away from the crowd chasing after them.

"I couldn't help but notice." I started, returning my eyes to him. "That you were too shy to come up and ask for a proper picture, that, or you just enjoy being a creep. I'm not really one to judge though, unless it involves children. Anyway, I decided to be so kind as to come over first. Just save you the trouble of having to ask, aren't I great?"

His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, beads of sweat forming at a rapid rate on his forehead. Lifting my hand from my pocket, I reached over and grabbed the hand trailing behind his back in an attempt to hide the camera. Clicking my tongue, I shook my head slowly. Dragging my previously resting arm from his shoulder to the back of his neck, grazing his skin with the nail of my thumb. I slid it to the front of his neck and tightened my grip, pushing him into the wall and using the momentum to slam the camera into it. It fell to the ground in pieces as I slightly tilted my head and my smirk widened.

"Oh I'm so sorry, remind me to buy you a new one man. Totally an accident, the photo's probably weren't the best anyway. You can absolutely do better, but take a nap first. You probably don't want to be awake for whatever is going to happen next."

The color drained from his face as I bashed his head against the rock before setting him on fire, I backed away from the ash as I dusted my hands off. "Sorry not sorry, I was going to let you go man. But you weren't as slick with those under skirt flash pics as you thought you were, seriously, height aside. I thought it was clear they weren't legal, you got off lucky."

I spat on the pile of ashes as I slid my hands into my pockets and took off towards where the others ran away to.

. . . .

-A few hours earlier-

~Eraser~

Once Dabi took off with Luffy and Shoto, Law immediately opened a room and teleported Doflamingo and the Navy Admiral away, before doing the same for us. Keeping distance was the best option, my theory is the Doflamingo won't attack the others. One, because the ship already had gotten a fair distance away, plus the fact that they were busy with Big Mom. Two, he's hell bent on getting Law. So keeping distance until we're ready to fight is the best option, the most we have to do is keep moving out of sight, which relatively speaking. Isn't hard, things were going well until Doflamingo put a bounty on everyone's heads.

I blinked disbelieving at the screen, staring at myself and the two stars beside the image. "I really can't get used to this universe, why am I the "convict" instead of Dabi. I actually almost miss waking up at nine AM to teach." A shiver ran down my back at the thought.

After moving past that, we eventually met up with Luffy and Zoro. Who were joined by two familiar "convict" faces, Viola, and the Ex-King Riku Doldo. Luffy was in the middle of a call with Robin and another "convict" Rebecca, making bold promises and being, well, Luffy.

Exclaiming "I'll definitely kick Doflamingo's ass!!!" as Law's eye twitched.

"Do you understand….!? Straw-Hat. My strategy was to leave Doflamingo alive to make him clash with Kaidou. If you kill him now….Then Kaidou's rage for losing the smile factory will all end upon us!! We'll have to fight directly against one of the Yonkou!!!" Law interrupted.

"We can talk about that later. Look at this country!! Do you know what'll happen if I stop now!!?" Luffy shouted, seeming to surprise Law with his words.

Then came the long insufferable headache as Luffy ran around aimlessly to find Doflamingo….

'Is it too late to switch places with Dabi? Hell, even being on the ship would be better than this.'

. . . .