The following morning aboard the Thousand Sunny.
The crew ate the breakfast that Sanji carefully prepared for them as boisterously as ever. Law found himself with only half a plate of food before he caught on to Luffy's thieving ways and chopped off the offending, rubber fingers with a steak knife.
In his haste to cram as much food into his waiting gullet as fast as he could, Luffy didn't notice when he almost swallowed his own severed fingers, and he would have done so if not for Robin's timely rescue of her captain's digits.
"Ah! My fingers!" Luffy belatedly shouted in shock.
"You should worry more about your plate, Luffy." Nami stated flatly.
Luffy down with dawning horror to see his own plate had been surreptitiously robbed clean and piled onto Cherry's plate. The devilish woman snickered at his misfortune as she stuffed her face with her ill gotten gains.
A handcuffed Caesar sat on the floor in the corner of the room looking at the slop placed before him in a dog bowl. He silently cursed them for humiliating him in such a way.
"Oi, if you don't want to eat it then we can always starve you." Cherry said coldly as she met his longing gaze at the table filled with delicious food. "Or maybe I can have Sanji cook one of your legs? I'm sure you'll enjoy it since a scientist like yourself will be nice and tender."
Caesar planted his face into the dog bowl and slurped up the "technically edible" goop with feigned relish. "It's delicious!"
"That's what I thought. Don't waste a single drop either or Sanji's liable to teach you a lesson." Cherry warned before turning back to the table.
Cherry's insistence on treating Caesar so poorly wasn't met with much resistance given his lethal experiments on children.
"Coooo!" A News Coo landed in the window with a satchel of newspapers strapped to its side.
Nami stood and took one of the papers, handing over a 1,000 Beri note.
The mood in the room became more somber as they awaited the answer to whether Doflamingo had quit the Shichibukai and abdicated his throne.
"He did it, he quit!" Nami exclaimed, whilst reading the headlining article.
Many sighs of relief were heard around the table, but the one that came from Caesar in the corner was the loudest. "I knew Joker wouldn't abandon me!"
"So, Law. What's the plan if the article turns out to be bullshit?" Cherry asked.
Law shook his head. "Not even Doflamingo can control the newspaper. It's backed by one of the emperors of the Underworld, and that man wouldn't sacrifice his journalistic integrity for Kaido himself, let alone Doflamingo."
"Okay, so what's the plan if the article turns out to be bullshit?" Cherry repeated.
Law frowned. "I suppose in the worst case scenario where Morgans got assassinated and had his news company taken over in the span of a single night, then we'll have to get out of Dressrosa immediately. In that EXTREMELY unlikely scenario, Doflamingo would have prepared a trap for us, possibly in conjunction with the marines."
"In other words, we'll stick around and fight." Cherry nodded sagely.
"That isn't-" Law tried to correct her.
"That's what'll happen. Nobody here is going to abandon their friends for any reason whatsoever. Don't forget that these fools followed Robin to Enies Lobby and all but declared war on the World Government to save her." Cherry interrupted..
"Hey, you went there too!" Usopp pointed out.
"Yes I did, but I'm not a fool. I could have escaped whenever I felt like it." Cherry said shamelessly, taking a sip of coffee. "As you can see, Law, you'll have to plan around our antics if you want to use our strength."
Law buried his face in his hands, reconsidering for the umpteenth time whether he made the correct decision. Regardless, he'd made his bed and he'd just have to sleep in it.
"Oh, we're in here too." Nami said. "Tsk, the bastard must have revealed our alliance at the same time as his own announcement. Guess he won't let things go so easily for you either, Law."
"Ohh, Kid, Apoo, and Hawkins teamed up too! You think they're going after an Emperor too?" Luffy said, peeking at the paper with his neck stretched out.
"That doesn't matter. We just need to focus on Doflamingo for now." Law said, going outside to call Doflamingo to make the arrangements for the handover of Caesar.
After only a single ring, the call was picked up. "It's me. Are you there, Law?"
"Doflamingo. You held up your end of the bargain." Law answered, frowning at Luffy who was currently being prevented from interrupting.
"Yes, I did. Now you'll return my business partner to my custody, yes? I'll need to know he's still alive of course." Doflamingo said in a subdued tone.
Law held out the receiver for Caesar to cry into briefly before snatching it back. "You'll pick him up at 3 p.m. on the south eastern beach of Green Bit."
"I understand. I hope you don't betray my trust, or else you know what'll happen to you the next time we meet." Doflamingo warned. "Is Ms. Harpin there?"
Cherry grabbed the den den mushi out of Law's hands before he could rudely hang up without entertaining the former Shichibukai. "I'm here~!"
"I had the good fortune to acquire something you will be interested in from a mutual acquaintance of ours. You wouldn't be willing to quit that small-time crew and come over to my side would you?" Doflamingo said in a seductive voice reminiscent of a devil.
"Maybe I'll just take whatever it is and run~?" Cherry singsonged.
"Fufufufu, no I don't think you will. Steal something from me and I'll steal something from you as well, and it won't be a fair trade." Doflamingo said in a voice that sounded both amused and threatening.
"Is that so~?" Cherry said, her voice still lighthearted. "Who is that little girl crouched by those den den mushi behind you?"
*PSSSH* *Gacha*
The brief static before the call ended was an indication of the den den mushi on the other end being killed.
"I wonder if I spooked him? Hehehehehe…" Cherry chuckled darkly.
"Damn it, you didn't let me talk to him! I wanted to give him a piece of my mind!" Luffy shouted in annoyance.
"Relax, Luffy. There's like a 90% chance you'll be kicking his ass by the end of the day anyways. Just say your piece then." Cherry said.
"DO NOT do that! A direct confrontation is the last resort! We want Kaido to do the work of getting rid of Doflamingo for us." Law said adamantly.
The dumb look on Luffy's face didn't give Law any assurances.
…
Dressrosa was very close to Punk Hazard as it turned out, which made some sense as Caesar explained that S.A.D. was too volatile for long distance shipping. If they experienced even one bad storm on the short trip between the two islands, then the whole shipment would be ruined by all the sloshing around by the heavy swaying of the ship.
"Why didn't you just make it on Dressrosa then?" Nami asked.
"Because I'm not one of Joker's minions, but an independent contractor. If I worked right under his nose then he would have me at his mercy. Not that I have much of a choice in the matter now." Caesar grumbled.
"I can see Dressrosa!" Zoro called out from the crow's nest that also served as the ship's gym.
Soon enough the rest of them could see the towering cliffs of Dressrosa as well.
"WE'RE HERE!" Luffy shouted as if trying to let the entire kingdom know of his arrival.
"Momonosuke, you must stay on the ship! It is too risky for you to come along as they will be on the lookout for people from Wano." Kin'emon explained, to which Momonosuke reluctantly acquiesced.
"How are the disguises coming along, Kin'emon?" Franky asked.
"Ah yes, I've illustrated the common dressings of Dressrosa's people here." Kin'emon held up a drawing of a man wearing black slacks and a collared shirt, and a woman wearing nothing but an extremely short leaf skirt.
Nami promptly whacked him on the head, just in time for an unfamiliar woman to walk out onto the deck.
The woman stood about 190 centimeters tall and was very thin. She had many piercings in her face, her black hair was short and messy, and she had dark colored eyes. She wore a black tank top with a pair of black leather pants and combat boots, and fingerless black gloves. Both her arms were covered with dense tattoos, and her lips were covered with black lipstick.
"Who the hell are you?!" Chopper shouted, taking a defensive stance.
"Who are you, my lady~?" Sanji twirled over with hearts in his eyes.
Everyone was shocked at the appearance of the stranger, and even more shocked when Robin walked over to her and gave the woman a deep kiss.
"Hehehehe!" The woman laughed Cherry's trademark demonic laugh, cluing in the others to the identity of the woman.
"Look guys! I could pass as Law's sister, don't you think? Or maybe it doesn't look edgy enough?" Cherry gave a cheshire grin.
Law didn't know whether to be offended by the teasing insult, impressed by the effectiveness of Cherry's disguise, or fall in love with the perfect goth girl in front of him. Scratch that last one, Cherry was a demon not a woman.