Bird Costume

*RUMBLE*

If the Doflamingo's declaration of certain doom along with the enclosing bird cage cutting clean through everything in its path weren't enough to shock the people of Dressrosa, then the swiftly growing figure they saw now certainly did.

Doflamingo's palace rose up out of the ground on top of what first appeared to be a pillar of stone. Soon, however, the pillar of stone took a new shape.

The top half broadened and grew two smaller pillars from either side. At the top another protrusion appeared, a big round-ish shape.

Soon details emerged and became the image of one of Doflamino's top officers, Pika himself. The palace rested upon his broad shoulders and upper back like a tortoise shell.

Law frowned at him. "Pika… They're underestimating us."

"I can smash this big dude to pieces, easy!" Luffy declared, rolling his shoulders in preparation.

"Please, don't do that!" Kyros hurriedly interjected. "Not only are Doflamingo and Pika unlikely to be harmed if you do, we also don't know how many innocent people are in the palace!"

Luffy grunted in annoyance and Law sighed. Neither of them were willing to heartlessly sacrifice innocent lives to attack their enemy.

"Should I fly you up?" Cabernet proposed.

"The main problem is that the palace is made of stone. Pika can attack us with the walls themselves once we're inside." Law said.

"I FOUND YOU!" the giant stone Pika screeched in a voice that was far too high pitched for his stature.

*snort x2*

Luffy and Cabernet broke into hysterical laughter.

"That voice doesn't suit him at all! Hahahaha!" Luffy wheezed.

"It's like a mouse breathing helium!" Cabernet said, causing them to laugh even more raucously.

"I'LL KILL YOOOOOUUUUU!!!1!" Pika screeched almost unintelligibly.

Pika pushed his giant stone fist at them with unnatural haste. It was at this point that Luffy and Cabernet noticed Law and Kyros had preemptively moved away from the two of them.

*BLAST*

Pika's stone fist collided with the ground hard enough to create a tiny artificial earthquake in the immediate vicinity.

"YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE!!!" Pika raged triumphantly.

Pika lifted his mighty, indomitable fist to observe his handy work. There in a small crater lied the unmoving bodies of Luffy and Cabernet.

At least, they were unmoving until they both stood up and brushed themselves off as if they hadn't just been crushed into the earth under ten thousand tons of rock.

Pika's eyes went bloodshot from frustration and shock.

Having a moment to think about it, Luffy made sense as his body possessed the properties of rubber; thus he was immune to bludgeoning type attacks. Pika couldn't use haki on this bloated stone body, so this was understandable.

What he didn't understand was why Cabernet came out unscathed as well. No matter how tough lunarians were, surely they couldn't casually withstand that much weight and force?

"Hey, Luffy…" Cabernet said.

"What, Cabernet?" Luffy asked.

"He doesn't just sound like a little girl, he punches like one too." Cabernet spoke.

"""...""" an eerie silence settled over the area.

""BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!""" Luffy and Cabernet were once again in hysterics.

Law planted his face into both of his hands whilst Kyros was completely dumbfounded.

"REEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!" Pika was no longer capable of human speech due to his brain short circuiting from rage.

What was remarkable was that despite all of Pika's thrashing around, the palace had remained most stable. Even now in spite of all his rage it seemed that his top priority was the safety and comfort of his young master.

"How strong are you?" Law suddenly asked Kyros.

"Although I was undefeated in the colosseum, I am regrettably not strong enough to defeat Doflamingo…" Kyros said, though it was painful to admit. "Perhaps if it were ten years ago I could take him one on one, but he has been growing stronger whilst I was trapped in the body of a toy."

"Well, that might be good enough. Those two idiots will distract Pika, so let's go." Law said.

"How are we supposed to-" Kyros said, then they both vanished from view leaving two vases behind in their place.

…

Inside Doflamingo's palace.

Sanji and Viola stumbled as the entire structure swayed unexpectedly.

"I've Got you now! G!" the old man in a jumpsuit rushed Sanji with lightning quick jabs.

Sanji was not caught unbalanced however. He had lived most of his life on the sea, so a little swaying here and there wouldn't topple him. Even with only one foot on the floor and wildly countering the old man's attack with the old, he was as steady as a mountain.

"Does 'G' stand for Geriatric?" Sanji asked, lighting a cigarette.

The old man did a backwards somersault with agility unbefitting his age suddenly, and the floor swelled beneath Sanji's foot. He only just noticed the spiky haired man behind him.

"Get away!" Viola cried out.

Sanji tried to kick himself away, but the force only pressed the floor bubble inwards before it burst.

*BANG*

Sanji flew and landed on the ground, dazed by the unexpected explosion.

"So you've betrayed us, Violet? Can't say I'm surprised." the newcomer said.

The old man, Lao G descended onto Sanji with the intent of finishing him off. Sanji wasn't out of the fight yet, however, and sprang to his feet to defend himself.

Viola produced massive tears from her eyes and sent them towards the newcomer, Gladius. He raised his hands to meet the tears directly, at which time they swelled and exploded. After, he rushed towards her with his hands bared, ready to set things off with a pop!

While this took some of the heat off of Sanji, it also served to distract him as he wanted to protect Viola from harm. The momentary lapse of attention paid to Lao G was a mistake that the old man was swift to capitalize on.

"'G' is for 'G'et 'G'ood, loser! As the kids say…" Lao G said whilst delivering a brutal elbow to Sanji's sternum.

Sanji lashed out with a hard kick, but Lao G was already moving to block and dampen the force of it. The old man had many decades of battle experience that Sanji didn't have, even though the young blond was technically stronger.

"What is going on here?" a domineering voice asked.

All four of them turned to see… Donquixote Doflamingo?!

Actually no, it was Kin'emon disguised as Doflamingo. However, Lao G and Galdius did not realize this fact.

How could they not tell this shoddy disguise apart from the real Doflamingo whom they've known for decades you might ask?

Well, Lao G's hearing and eyesight ain't what it used to be, so it was understandable that he would make this mistake. Gladius on the other hand suffered from a terrible affliction of the mind called "being an idiot".

"Young Master! Violet has betrayed us by bringing one of the Straw Hats into the palace! We were just dealing with them accordingly." Gladius reported.

"I see. Leave these two to me and go help to the north of the palace." Kin'emon said.

This was a confusing order, especially considering it was completely different from the last order they were given. However, Lao G and Gladius were both loyal to a fault, so they didn't speak the doubts in their minds.

"You won't win, Doffy! I won't allow you to harm Dressrosa any further, even to my dying breath!" Viola perfectly played the role of a damsel in dire straits.

"I've never cooked flamingo before, I'm looking forward to it." Sanji said, remarkably believable as well.

Lao G and Gladius wanted to attack once more for those disrespectful words, but Kin'emon raised his hand to wave them off. "Go, I'll teach them respect."

Lao G and Gladius left with some hesitation, but at least those two would get what's coming to them!

Kin'emon watched them leave, waiting for them to turn the corner down the hall. He then hastily whispered "Sanji, it is I! Kin'emon, not Doflamingo!"

"I know that! I'm not an idiot!" Sanji said quietly. "What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were searching for your friend?"

"I thought mayhaps I would find him here, as he is undoubtedly a very important prisoner." Kin'emon stated.

"Well, let's stick together. If we run into the real Doflamingo we might be in trouble alone, but together we can contend with him." Sanji suggested.