"We can begin."
Sengoku walked onto the wooden platform with his hands clasped behind his back. He turned to look at the guard beside him.
The execution grounds went dead quiet without him saying a single word, nobody dared meet his eyes.
He spoke calmly, "Have Impel Down bring the prisoner up."
The war... was about to begin.
--**--**
At the exact same time. Level Six of Impel Down, Infinite Hell, inside a pitch-black cell.
A disheveled prisoner with a tangled beard, looking like he hadn't bathed in weeks, wailed desperately through the heavy iron bars, "It's true! Everything I said is true!"
"I really have nothing to do with that guy!"
"The Pirate King really does have two sons!"
Absolute despair consumed him. What kind of nightmare was this? He had only boarded Mock's ship to ease the brewing tension between Mock and Ace, hoped to use their luck to get his desired devil fruit and them backstab them. He hadn't done anything wrong yet. Besides, out of the three of them on that boat, two were literal sons of Gol D. Roger, so why was he the only one suffering in this hellhole? And a public execution.... Wasn't that a grand punishment reserved exclusively for legends? What grand sin had he committed to deserve this? How was that fair? They were just bullying an honest man.
He had cursed Mock and Ace thoroughly several times over the past few agonizing days. He had screamed every secret he knew, but it was completely useless. Absolutely no one believed a single word he said.
"No! I can't keep going on like this!"
Desperation filled Teach's eyes. He couldn't be certain that his captain would take such a massive, suicidal risk to save him. After all, this was a heavily broadcasted execution... an obvious, lethal trap, just waiting for the prey to jump in. Even if the Whitebeard Pirates were one of the four reigning Yonko crews, attempting a rescue against the full might of the World Government was practically impossible.
So...
He had to find a way to save himself. He absolutely could not leave his precious life in the hands of others. He still had a grand dream. He still had a future. The new era was supposed to belong to him, Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach.
At this thought, Teach's eyes hardened with resolve. Gripping the iron bars tightly once more, snot and tears streaming down his grimy face, he shouted with a pathetic, pleading voice, "The Pirate King really has two sons! That's right, it's the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, Portgas D. Ace, he is also the son of the Pirate King!"
"I'm really not talking about myself! Please, let me go!"
"I can join the Marines! I can help you capture the real son!"
"Please let me see Fleet Admiral Sengoku!"
However, just as Teach wailed at the top of his lungs, a voice rang out from the solitary cell next door, laced with deep impatience and a cold sneer.
"How utterly pathetic."
"Hey, can you shut up? I've had to listen to your whining for days now." He let out his signature, grating laugh. "Fufufu, is this really the capacity of a Whitebeard Commander?"
Doflamingo looked at Teach, who had been tossed onto this level a few days ago, and let out a dismissive scoff. "HQ really will throw anyone in here these days."
Raising his voice again, he viciously mimicked the prisoner. His tone was pleading yet dripping with venomous sarcasm. "Please let me go! I can join the Marines! The Pirate King really has two sons!"
"Fufufu, Crocodile, listen to what this trash is saying. The Pirate King actually has two sons." Doflamingo looked across the dark corridor at Crocodile, who sat quietly in the shadows. "How incredible. Who knew Roger was such a philanderer. Do you believe it, Croc?"
"It's pointless babbling. Don't bother me." Hearing the pink-feathered warlord, Crocodile kept his expression completely flat as he glared at Teach. "He's just a lucky fool. What was he called? Black Sole?"
Teach ground his teeth.
Hearing the sarcastic jabs from the two fallen legends, Teach flew into a rage out of sheer humiliation. 'It was Blackbeard! These bastards!'
"I'm about to die! I'm about to be executed! Seeking a way to survive, fighting for my dream, what's wrong with that?" Teach craned his neck stubbornly, glaring at the shadows as he yelled, "Don't make snide remarks from the sidelines. Wait until you're facing the executioner's blade, you'll probably look even worse than me. Keep in mind I didn't do anything wrong!"
His anger carried a heavy hint of bitter grievance. "But I got dragged in here because of that bastard Mock."
"Fufufufu."
Doflamingo didn't humor him. He just kept sneering. "Sorry, I only got caught because of that bastard too. Oh, right, Croc is in the exact same boat. It's just... we aren't crying like you, Black Sole."
His voice suddenly carried a sharp chill, his gaze turning murderous. "Even if we face death? So what? Once you raise a pirate flag, you accept death. Either you rush forward without hesitation, or you die at sea. Don't be this pathetic. Fufufufu."
Madness flashed in his eyes as he laughed that peculiar laugh again. "A public execution... isn't that the ultimate form of acknowledgment for a pirate? What do you say Black Sole?!"
'This lunatic. And I'm Blackbeard, not Black Sole!'
Teach scowled. Given his dire situation, now wasn't the time to argue with a caged madman. He turned back around and grabbed the cold iron bars again.
However. Before he could resume his desperate wailing, heavy footsteps echoed down the stone corridor. *Tap. Tap. Tap.*
Moments later, several imposing figures stopped outside the cell. A burly warden clad in a dark uniform and sporting a peculiar pair of horns stared at Teach with an impassive, pitiless expression.
"Marshall D. Teach, step back. Your time has arrived."
Teach's blood ran cold.
After an agonizing transport, Teach was dragged up the wooden steps to the execution platform. He wailed the entire way, thoroughly annoying his heavily armed escorts.
"It really has nothing to do with me! Everything I said is true!"
No matter what he screamed, no one paid him any mind.
"Fleet Admiral, the prisoner has been secured."
"Good work." Sengoku nodded curtly. He looked down at the chained pirate, his voice flat and devoid of mercy. "Teach, your time is up."
"Sengoku!" Teach yelled the moment he spotted the golden epaulettes. "Everything I said is true! The Pirate King really has two sons, and the other one is Ace, "
"Enough. It's useless to spout nonsense at this point." Sengoku interrupted with impatience.
Still rambling about Roger having two sons? What a pathetic joke. Even if the Pirate King had three or ten sons right now, it wouldn't change today's outcome. He waved a gloved hand. "Drag him up. It's almost time."
"Yes, sir."
"Wait! It's true! Everything I'm saying is true!"
The restrained prisoner continued to wail, his desperate pleas completely ignored by the stoic guards.
Forced to his knees on the wooden block, absolute despair surfaced in Teach's eyes. Seeing the sprawling military formation gathered below, that hopelessness deepened into a suffocating weight.
He was done for. His grand dream was finished before it even began.
"He's is pathetic. I didn't expect Whitebeard to take in a son like that." Sengoku frowned in disgust, then turned to Garp, who was happily eating crackers as if watching a theatrical play. "You take this seriously, and stay put."
"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll be good."
"See that you do."
Seeing Garp wave a crumb-covered hand to assure him, Sengoku let out a dismissive scoff. Naturally, he would keep a close eye on him, he absolutely would not let the old hero cause any chaos for his own humor today.
It was just...
Sengoku looked up at the midday sun overhead, his frown deepening into a harsh line. 'It's almost time. Why hasn't he shown up? Could the boy actually be scared?'
The appointed hour was nearly here. What if the clock struck and Mock still hadn't appeared? Delay the broadcast? What a joke. That would be slapping themselves in the face. If they hesitated, the World Government's ultimate display of justice would become a global laughingstock.
And would that pirate actually sail into this hell to rescue a crewmate?
Time passed by the excruciating minute. Seeing that the bay remained empty, Sengoku grew increasingly tense.
The exact time for the execution arrived. Sengoku's face paled slightly as he glanced from the silent Marines below to the platform ahead. Veteran officers stared back, silent, pressing questions in their eyes. Should they proceed? Keep waiting? Or carry out the sentence right now?
===============
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