"He isn't here! We searched the entire palace!" Kyros growled in frustration.
Law also wasn't looking too pleased with the situation. He already knew how slippery the shichibukai could be, but he was banking on Doflamingo's arrogance winning over his sense of self preservation.
Unfortunately it seemed that all the extra muscle he brought with him, while improving his chances of victory in a direct confrontation, actually decreased the likelihood there would be a direct confrontation in the first place.
It was at this moment that Luffy, Cabernet, Sanji, and Viola arrived at the same time.
"Tra-guy! Where did 'Mingo go?! I need to kick his ass!" Luffy exclaimed. Cabernet nodded in agreement, she didn't like the smug smile Doflamingo always wore on his face and she would like to smash it once or thrice.
"I don't know. He must have slipped away before Pika picked up the palace." Law said bitterly. He knew the bastard was at least still in Dressrosa since the birdcage was still up.
Viola wasn't paying them any mind. She ran straight to what looked like a small door in the wall. She swung it open, but was apparently disappointed by what she found, or what she didn't find.
"Princess Viola." Kyros greeted, bowing respectfully with perfect balance despite his missing leg.
"Kyros… it's good to see you again. To remember you again." Viola said with a gentle smile. "I am searching for Princess Mansherry. I know that Doflamingo was keeping her captive in the palace, but I haven't had any luck. Have you seen anywhere she could be held in?"
"So they were keeping her here! We thought she was kept in the factory with the rest of the tontatta. I have not noticed anywhere she could have been kept, unfortunately." Kyros said, feeling somewhat guilty for inadvertently sending the little ones after a red herring.
*Crash!*
Cherry burst through the ceiling, causing most of them to flinch and go on their guards. Only Cabernet and Sanji weren't surprised by the sudden entrance. Cabernet was able to sense her of course, whilst Sanji was able to instinctually determine that the newcomer was a beautiful lady in a split second and kept his cool accordingly.
"Hey guys, whatcha up to?" Cherry asked casually.
Viola caught her eye, so she sent a flirty wink her way for good measure. Viola didn't respond as she was very much of the opinion that now wasn't the time for such things.
"Cherry! Where's 'Mingo?!" Luffy shouted.
"He's in some underground bunker or something over yonder." Cherry said, pointing in the rough direction of where the palace had once been before Pika moved it.
"UuuooOOOHHH!!!" Luffy psyched himself up and ran in the direction she pointed without question.
Cabernet was about to follow, but was stopped as Cherry motioned for her to come to her. With a small pout, she acquiesced and trudged over.
"Hey, you. Yes, you." Cherry called out to Kyros. When she had his attention she said "You're like this kingdom's hero or something?"
"What…? No, no I'm not a hero." Kyros denied adamantly, shaking his hands in front of himself almost defensively.
"How humble, that's exactly what a hero would say." Cherry nodded to herself, having sussed him out.
She was at least certain that he was refusing for the same reasons Luffy insisted that he wasn't a hero. This guy definitely shares his food with others.
"No! I have too much blood on my hands to be such a noble person!" Kyros looked like he was almost on the verge of panicking.
"I suppose you must have a fair bit being the most prolific contender of the colosseum's history…" Cherry gave him that.
"Er, no… I never actually killed anyone whilst fighting in the colosseum. Fights to the death only started during Doflamingo's reign." Kyros corrected her.
Cherry raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what? Were you a serial killer or something?"
"Absolutely not! I took a life to avenge my murdered friend!" Kyros said hastily.
"So you're a hardcore 'due process' kind of guy, huh? How heroic." Cherry said, rolling her eyes.
"Why do you have Sugar strapped to your back?" Law asked out of nowhere.
"For safekeeping, of course! Don't tell me that some of Luffy's stupid rubbed off on you?" Cherry said, as if it was obvious.
"Get with the program, nerd." Sugar added.
'Why are they teaming up against me???' Law thought, confused and dumbfounded.
"Anyways, take this." Cherry tossed something from inside her clothes at Kyros.
Catching the object, Kyros gazed upon the strange, dark blue apple in his hands. A devil fruit.
"That bad boy will regrow your leg on top of giving you the standard physical boost that Zoans are famous for. Simple enough to give you a non-negligible increase in strength without needing to spend any time training its use." Cherry said.
Kyros wasn't normally the kind of man who'd choose to rely on such a power, but even he couldn't deny this. Just getting his leg back would be a game changer for him.
Cherry didn't really feel any loss from this. Sure she could sell it or something, but in a few years she'd be beyond caring about money anyways. Nami will probably be peeved about it though.
'I'll make it up to her sometime. There's no shortage of treasure in the Grand Line.' Cherry thought.
Kyros didn't waste time and decisively stuffed the whole apple into his mouth, stem and all. He didn't know if it mattered how much of it he ate, but he wouldn't take any chances with the fate of his family and country on the line.
Whilst he was "savoring" the devil fruit's "delicious" flavor, Cherry walked over and infused some of her vital energy into him to kick start the regeneration from the devil fruit. Although it could restore limbs on its own, it would likely take time without the extra help. Time that they didn't have.
After a few moments, the devil fruit settled in Kyros' complaining stomach and he said "What now? How do I do it?"
"Just do it." Cherry said unhelpfully.
"..." Kyros tried focusing on transforming, but to no avail.
"Like this." Cherry prodded him.
A sudden jolt went through Kyros' entire body and then he felt his body trying to stretch and mold itself into a new shape. He captured the feeling and egged it onwards until he was finally in the shape of a large, slimy, lizard-like amphibian. His stump felt all tingly and upon looking at it, he saw his leg was visibly regrowing itself.
"Now let's get going before Luffy has a chance to finish Doflamingo off. Although, I'm doubtful that he'll be able to find him by himself unless he just starts smashing the ground at random." Cherry said. She looked towards Viola and asked "Are you coming too?"
"I need to find Mansherry. I'm sure you all can handle Doffy- I mean, Doflamingo." Viola said.
"Oh, Doflamingo took her with him. I can sense them both in the same place. I guess you're coming along after all." Cherry said.
Sanji was more than happy to come along and Law naturally also did so.
Along the way, Kyros worked out the hybrid form of his devil fruit. His tanned skin took on a pinkish hue and his hair was made of slimy tentacle-like protrusions. "Why would you, a pirate, give me such a valuable thing?"
"It wasn't for free, dufus." Cherry said. "You're gonna take all the credit. I'll be damned if I let the marines take all the official credit for taking down their own shichibukai after turning a blind eye to his atrocities in Dressrosa for ten years. They'll never admit that pirates saved Dressrosa, but you? You can take the credit just fine, so long as you've played a significant role."
Kyros opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly when Cherry glared at him. "You've already accepted the payment. You either become Dressrosa's hero, or you're coming with me until you pay off your debt."
Kyros gulped. This woman was even more frightening than his late wife.