Doflamingo's attack slowed to a stop just before the blade reached Cherry's neck. Before he could make sense of why it did that, a spear was thrusting towards his heart. He felt grave danger from this attack and dodged backwards, however the sword left his hand as he did so, not budging from its place.
Sakura Tengoku hung in the air until Cherry grasped it. She then hurled it towards Fujitora who was drawing his sword, turning into a bolt of lightning as it flew.
Fujitora swung his sword upwards, sending the ground beneath his feet upwards in a pillar of earth. The pillar exploded as the lightning collided with it and Fujitora leaped in Cherry's direction, sword brandished.
Doflamingo didn't miss the timing and charged as well, his fingers spread wide like he intended to claw at her.
Cherry sent a palm strike in Fujitora's direction, causing his sword to clash with an invisible wall of armament haki. At the same time she crouched and spun, swinging her spear in a deadly arc that aimed to slice off Doflamingo's feet at the ankles.
Doflamingo expertly hopped over the razor sharp spearhead and raked his hands through the air. Impossibly thin strings whipped towards Cherry, threatening to cut her skin into ribbons.
Sakura Tengoku returned in that instant, burning the strings to cinders. They were too feeble to resist the destructive capabilities of lightning.
The lightning sword returned to Cherry's free hand and she swung it in a circle, sending a vicious, spiraling slash of electricity and haki at Doflamingo while he was still in the air.
At the same time, Fujitora thrust his sword downwards and a tremendous weight fell upon Cherry's shoulders. It wasn't too much to handle, but it would slow her down quite a bit.
The citizens and marines in the vicinity were awed and terrified at the fight. Several deadly exchanges had just occurred between three powerhouses, and yet it had all happened in the span of about 10 seconds.
…
On the streets of Acacia, Dressrosa.
Luffy was running whilst holding Law on his back, which was rather uncomfortable for the latter.
"Put me down, Straw Hat! I said our alliance is over!" Law argued.
"No! The alliance is still on!" Luffy stubbornly insisted, desperately looking for somewhere to leave Law so he could go back quickly to help Cherry.
"DIE!" Doflamingo came out of nowhere, kicking Luffy in the jaw.
"Mingo?! Why are you here?! What happened to Cherry?!" Luffy shouted, stumbling from the blow but not falling.
"Dead! Just like you're about to be!" Doflamingo charged him once again, capitalizing on the fact that Luffy couldn't fight at his best while protecting the injured man on his back.
The shock of Doflamingo's claim gave pause to Luffy, leaving just enough time for the shichibukai to land a body blow to his stomach.
"Why are you listening to the enemy, you idiot?! He must have just slipped away from the fight!" Law snapped Luffy out of it.
Luffy's care towards his crewmates was the biggest reason Law decided to ally with him, but he thought Luffy was too emotional at this moment.
"You're right, Tra-guy. Cherry isn't that weak…" Luffy said, though he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Law felt there was something more going on in that goofy little head of his, but now wasn't the time to play psychiatrist. This was made especially apparent when Doflamingo fell upon them once again.
*FWOOSH*
Flames erupted over Doflamingo after a flash of silver hair and black feathers landed between him and Luffy. Doflamingo was sent flying backwards into a cabbage stall.
"Cabernet!" Luffy exclaimed happily.
"Don't celebrate just yet." Law warned.
Doflamingo climbed out of the broken stall. His body was burning and in some places one could see a mass of strings beneath his skin. He did not look happy at all, but he also didn't look to be in any pain either.
"It's a fake. The real Doflamingo should still be fighting Cherry-ya. That doesn't mean this guy is a push over, though. Doflamingo is a master of remote control." Law explained.
Cabernet burst forward and grappled the string doppelganger before it could dodge. She instantly erupted into flames that grew more intense with each second that passed. The Doppel-mingo struggled as best as it could, but even the real Doflamingo couldn't compete in strength with Cabernet, let alone a cheap copy. The flames burned away at its strings which only made its resistance grow weaker moment by moment.
Doppel-mingo tried to scatter its strings, but it was too late. It was well and truly engulfed in Cabernet's fire, such that now all that remained was to wait for its own destruction.
"That's one way to deal with that, I suppose." Law said, feeling it was somewhat anticlimactic.
"It matters not that you defeated the young master's puppet. It bought enough time for us to catch up to you," a voice came from an alley.
"I see that Doflamingo put Humpty Dumpty back together again, Vergo." Law mocked, though he was alarmed to see him. Cherry had done a real number on him and yet he looked as healthy as a horse right now.
"Watch your mouth, brat! That's young master and SIR to you!" Vergo scowled.
A buzzing sound could be heard. Looking up they saw a large buck-toothed man flying through the air with a propeller around his neck. Atop his back was a woman dressed as a maid.
"Be careful of him, Luffy. He might have been defeated by Cherry, but he's no slouch." Law warned quietly.
"Mutter between yourselves all you want. Soon the young master will catch up with us and then you'll be doomed for certain." Vergo spoke with the utmost confidence in Doflamingo's abilities.
…
Back outside the Corrida Colosseum, several minutes after Cherry started fighting Doflamingo and Fujitora.
*thump thump thump thump thump*
"What's that sound?" Doflamingo asked aloud.
"You can hear it as well now? I believe it is Harpin D. Cherry's heart, it has been getting progressively louder for the entire fight. At first I thought it was merely due to exertion, but now I am not so sure." Fujitora said worryingly.
The area they were fighting in was half ruined and the people had evacuated to a safe distance.
Each time Doflamingo tried to break off he would be forced to defend himself from an attack he didn't think Cherry could have pulled off. As much as he hated to admit it, he was stuck here unless he pulled out the big guns. The problem was that many of his less savory tactics weren't an option with Mr. Goody Two Shoes, Admiral Fujitora, here. If Fujitora stopped helping him fight her or worse, actually turned against him, then the balance would be destroyed and he'd be forced to go all out.
Now though, he thought that he'd made a mistake in holding back. He had no idea what the bitch was up to, but it absolutely wasn't something he wanted to find out the hard way.
Doflamingo took a long shot and shouted at Cherry. "What are you doing? If you push me too far, then I might do something with more collateral damage…"
Fujitora furrowed his brow. He knew that this was more a warning for him rather than her. 'Fight harder or I'll drag the innocent into the fight' was what Doflamingo was saying.
Unexpectedly, Cherry actually answered him. "Hehe, I haven't fallen in love with you if that's what you're wondering. I'm surprised that you don't recognise it, though. The pacifist over there makes sense, but YOU Doflamingo? You of all people should know this song better than anyone."
"Song? What are you on about?" Doflamingo felt sweat drip down his brow. He listened carefully to the beating, and he really did find that there was a hint of something familiar hiding in there.
"Uh oh." Fujitora spoke softly, but the other two both heard it.
"Color me surprised. The pacifist figured it out before the warmonger did. Hehehehehe!" Cherry cackled.
Doflamingo's nervousness turned to anger, but before he could complain Cherry spoke again. "Tis the drums of war, it is. I forget who inspired this new technique of mine, but I'll be sure to thank them when I remember them."
*THUMP THUMP THUMP THUTHUTHUTHUMP*
The heartbeat increased in volume so that it really sounded like a war drum and suddenly sped up to ridiculous speed.
Doflamingo had no time to consider the implications of Cherry's words about a person she'd forgotten before his Observation Haki screamed at him. He quickly yanked himself as high into the air as he could as fast as he could. Still he did not fully escape in time.
"DIVINE RIGHT… HOOK!" Cherry shouted, cocking back a fist.
Her arm vanished and reappeared in an instant, the movement of her arm undetectable as it threw a punch.
Then the air over the colosseum shattered, and Doflamingo was falling in an arc towards his palace, his body severely injured and barely conscious.