Bruno and I were hustled from behind until we reached the main hall. When the doors opened, a huge hall opened in front of us. In the center was a table where Doflamingo's closest people were sitting. He was in the center, Trebol was sitting to his right, and next to him was a girl about ten years old. On the other side of Doflamingo, there were two empty seats reserved for Pic and Diamante. Then there were the officers, whose strength was palpable.
I didn't hesitate and slowly began to capture the girl's spiritual threads. It was supposed to be Sugar, and her ability to turn people into toys and form a contract with them would come in handy for capturing Doflamingos.
One of my hidden tricks that I haven't used before is the ability to change location with a puppet. I left Absalam under lock and key in case of unforeseen circumstances, so that I could replace him if necessary.
— Fu-fu-fu-fu! Who did you bring this to us? — Without getting up from his seat, Doflamingo laughed when he saw us.
—A rat, Dofy,— Diamante said in a serious tone. —A dangerous rat that made us sweat."
— Where did two spies come from on our island? Has the world government decided to plot? Or are there any other reasons? — Doflamingo was looking at us, his voice was full of authority.
"We're not from the government,— I replied. I said this for the sole purpose that no one would notice the anomaly with Sugar. However, Trebol had already begun to worry, noticing the girl's slow movements. — We have learned that you are a Joker. And that the easiest way to get to you is to show yourself.
— Fu-fu-fu-fu! Doflamingo laughed again. — How naive. Do you think it's that easy to get on my team? Just walk into my castle?
An unexpected sound came from Doflamingo's right. Sugar pulled on his hand like a child, wanting to whisper something in his ear. Not wanting to upset his family member, Doflamingo turned to her, despite our dialogue.
As he bent down, she touched his ear. In its place now stood a pink plastic flamingo doll. I didn't remember who it was, but I knew that I urgently needed to start capturing spiritual threads.
However, the doll, unhappy with Sugar's actions and unable to cause her physical harm due to the girl's strength, emitted an impulse. The royal will swept through the castle like a shock wave. All the officers were knocked out by this force. Sugar, as technically dead, was not subject to the royal will. She felt the pressure, but she didn't suffer from it.
Trebol couldn't understand what was going on. He stood in a daze, trying to remember the key points. He knew for sure that he was one of the four managers of the Quixote family army, but he couldn't remember who the fourth was. Did they have a leader? Is this toy their leader?
Trebol's thoughts and mine were interrupted by the doll's actions. Despite the power of the Sugar fruit, the toy quickly struck her, causing Sugar to fly off and hit the wall. I was surprised by what was happening and only later realized that the royal will is able to suppress the mental influence of fruits.
Due to the unexpected impact, I didn't have time to react to Sugar's rescue, and she passed out for a moment. Soon, the toy returned to its form — an enraged Doflamingo. He turned in my direction, and his will, observation, and deduction immediately pointed him to the culprit of what was happening.
Things were going badly. The control of Doflamingo's spiritual threads turned out to be slower than I expected. The deceleration was worse on him than on Diamond. I changed my strategy, capturing leads not only from Doflamingo, but also from his officers, including Trebol, realizing that a fight was inevitable.
When I saw Doflamingo swing his arm, I quickly used a flaming leap to avoid the blow. The table that stood in my way shattered into splinters, the floor broke apart, and the door was pierced with a huge crack. I still haven't left the room, continuing to take control.
Apart from the clown's intuition, the only reason why I was able to react was because I was slowed down by the spiritual threads. It's been more than ten seconds since the commotion started, and I still haven't taken initial control.
Trebol did not sit idly by — he jerked closer to me, dragging the slime with him. When I saw Trebol attacking, I used Diamante and Pike as "reinforcements" for him.
I used the flaming jump again, but Doflamingo was able to predict my move. He quickly shifted in my direction, which forced me to repeat myself for the third time.
Doflamingo frowned, not so much because of the failed attack, but because he felt that time was not on his side. His intuition told him that he needed to break the distance. With a wave of his hand, he punched a hole in the lock, after which he stretched out his fingers and, "grabbing" the threads, reached for the clouds.
I didn't like this turn of events. I was hoping to break the threads by shooting an air bullet at them, but it didn't damage them.
The doflamingo was rapidly moving away towards the sky. The only way I could "fly" after him was to rely on a flaming leap or create a pathetic semblance of wings, which was extremely ineffective.
I decided to temporarily ignore Doflamingo himself and focus on seizing control of the others present. Trebol noticed that his movements began to slow down, but his intuition and fruit abilities were not enough to realize the source of the problem or quickly break the distance of 100 meters. Moreover, he was convinced that eliminating me was their first priority.
This confidence was fueled by my puppets. They played the role of aggressive pursuers, portraying a fierce hunt for me. The pike merged with the castle, intending to restrict my movements, but left obvious gaps through which I maneuvered, buying valuable time.
After 15 seconds, all of Doflamingo's closest people, with the exception of two people, were already under my control.
Quixote himself wasted no time. His perception of events was tinged with paranoia. He believed that I was an ally of the king, and that everything that was happening was part of a plan to expose the Quixote family. Reacting to the threat, he used the "Birdcage" technique, wrapping the entire island in a dense network of threads, eliminating any possibility of escape.
When Trebol also became my puppet, an uneasy silence reigned in the castle. I raised my head to look at the Doflamingo spreading its threads all over the island.
My plan began to crumble. Capturing Doflamingo as a puppet now seemed impossible. But killing him in open combat was also a task beyond reality.
Seeing the immobility of his companions, Quixote quickly realized that they were under control similar to Sugar's ability. His eyes narrowed in thought, but he didn't have time for much thought.
The huge figure of the Pike, which had merged into the landscape, advanced to the attack. His giant stone fist, the size of a two-story house, rushed towards the Doflamingo floating in the air.
The fatal blow was cut in an instant. Quixote's threads swept the stone away like dry leaves, and he instantly launched a counterattack, rushing towards the giant himself.
But my puppets weren't limited to a single Spike. Behind him, taking advantage of the confusion, a Baby 5 rocket flew, transforming its body into a deadly weapon. She was aiming straight at her former captain.
Doflamingo didn't even use the fruit's abilities to fend off that blow. With a simple flick of his hand, he blocked the rocket. The explosion created a cloud of smoke, but did not leave a scratch on it. With a serious expression on his face, he stood there without moving.
Baby 5 transformed back and, turning her arms into cannons, continued her attack. But Doflamingo did not wait. A thin thread stretched out from his finger, which entered the body of my puppet.
I felt resistance. Baby 5 remained under my control, but now she couldn't control her body. She stopped, then turned around and, falling from a height, headed in my direction, preparing to attack.
Ignoring her attack, I noticed dozens of threads flying from Doflamingo's fingers, rushing towards the castle. He was trying to take physical control of my puppets. Trebol, quickly getting his bearings, built a barrier of sticky slime, blocking the path of the threads.
I decided to change my strategy. After locking the less useful puppets in layers of Trebol slime, I led myself, Trebol, and Diamante out of the castle. As soon as we were outside, the Doflamingo came at us like a hawk swooping down on its prey.
With a wave of his hand, he unleashed his anger on the street, turning everything around into ruins. Houses collapsed like paper decorations, and those who found themselves on the street turned into a bloody mess. The only reason for our rescue was the viscous goo of the Trebol, which absorbed the inertia of the impact, leaving us unharmed.
As soon as Doflamingo was in my control zone, I started capturing his threads again. But his attacks didn't stop. The next blow landed right on our hiding place. This time, it was a black fist surrounded by powerful khaki. It broke through the slime, but it didn't reach us.
Trebol and Diamante remained in place, continuing their actions. Trebol covered Doflamingo with layers of slime, restricting his movements, and Diamante attacked the captain directly to distract his attention and hide the nuances of my ability.
However, the forces proved to be incomparable. Diamante's punch, devoid of willpower enhancement, was useless. Doflamingo, still hoping to get his subordinates back, did not attack him. Instead, he used his "Parasite" technique. A thread stretched out from the finger, which penetrated Diamante's body, seizing full control over him.
Realizing the threat from the uncontrollable Diamante, I immediately intervened. By forcing him to swallow the maggot, I activated the Faceless One's power. His body began to transform, turning into a cube of flesh.
Doflamingo noticed the changes and became enraged. It looked like murder to him, and he seemed to have decided that a similar fate could befall all my puppets. Realizing that my control threatened to destroy his team, he decided to deprive me of the chance to escape.
The slime, the ruined landscape, and the debris around us began to change their structure, turning into threads. They intertwined in intricate patterns, completely obeying the will of the Doflamingo. The space with a radius of one hundred meters around us turned into a web of its threads.
I felt that his abilities had entered an awakened state, and the area of control was rapidly expanding. However, my half-digested potion gave me an advantage: I could capture threads with a radius of 150 meters. Not wanting to take any chances, I decided to go beyond the range of his abilities.
In words, everything seemed simple: stay out of the range of his attacks. But given the incredible speed of the Doflamingo, he easily shortened the distance of 50 meters, continuing to chase me through the ruins of the city. My thoughts were occupied not only with avoiding attacks, but also with the state of my own spirituality.
The Flaming leap, although it required a minuscule amount of spiritual energy, was used by me non-stop. I teleported over a hundred times in half a minute, and despite that, my speed advantage barely kept me at a safe distance.
Doflamingo was destroying the city like a natural disaster, but his movements were becoming more and more constrained. His thoughts were no longer lightning fast, and my dodging became easier each time.
Realizing that it was becoming difficult to catch up with me on the ground, Doflamingo repeated his flying trick again. Disabling his awakened abilities, he grabbed onto a cloud of threads to resume the chase from the air. This time, I did not interrupt the process of capturing his consciousness.
At the same time, Pica, who could not withstand the Doflamingo in direct combat, was engaged in evacuating the survivors. However, as soon as Doflamingo took to the air, his fruit came back into action. The ground began to rise beneath me, slowly pushing me towards the top of the "Birdcage".
The cage opened slightly from above, and the Doflamingo escaped beyond its limits. Not wanting to stay trapped, I used a flaming leap to leave the cage after him.
Once outside the cage, I used the power of the Faceless One, turning my body into a kind of flying squirrel to stay in the air. I continued to use teleportation to gain altitude, evading his attacks.
Our fight reached its climax in the air. Doflamingo, exhausted and with slow perception, continued to attack, but each of his attempts became less accurate. His eyes gradually emptied, and even the last impulse of the royal will could not save him.
At that moment, I realized that his time was up. The illusion of invincibility has fallen, and Doflamingo has become my puppet.