September 26, 1503, Age of the Sea Circle
Inside a small cave hidden in a secluded area of Flower Hill, the little toy soldier was trying to convince Rebecca to leave the place, having discovered that Doflamingo and his subordinates were nearby, and fearing that they might find the defenseless girl.
In his current condition, Kyros was incapable of protecting his young daughter from their enemies, so the best option was to flee the area as quickly as possible and take refuge in one of the shelters that Scarlett and he had prepared in case of an emergency.
Unfortunately for the legendary warrior of Dressrosa, things were not going as well as he had hoped.
"No! I'm not leaving without my mom! My mom told me to wait for her here and not to move!" Rebecca said, her eyes flooded with tears as she pouted.
"Rebecca, we have to leave because some bad men are getting closer. Your mother said she would wait for us somewhere else," said the little toy soldier, trying once again to persuade the stubborn girl.
"No! I'm not leaving, leave me alone. I don't know you and I'm not going to listen to you!" the adorable girl replied with a determined expression.
Kyros felt a deep bitterness upon hearing his daughter's words. In another situation, he would have felt proud that Rebecca was so obedient and followed Scarlett's instructions to the letter, but right now they were in a desperate situation, and if they did not leave immediately, they would probably be found and eliminated by the pirate Doflamingo.
Even so, Kyros had no way of convincing Rebecca, since to her he was nothing more than a strange talking toy that had suddenly appeared while she was waiting for her mother to return.
During the past few hours, Kyros had discovered with great sadness that his daughter had no memory of him at all, and had even gone so far as to say that she had no father, and that it had always been just her and her mother in their small family.
Over the two days it had taken him to return from the capital to Flower Hill, Kyros had already noticed the abnormality of his current state, as he had crossed paths with several familiar people—mainly soldiers of Dressrosa who had managed to escape from Doflamingo's clutches—but none of them remembered anyone named Kyros.
Now that even his own daughter showed the same symptoms, he had no choice but to accept that the loss of everyone else's memories of him was probably due to his current condition as a toy.
He had dreamed of the possibility that his body would return to normal after some time, but two days had already passed and there had been no change whatsoever in his condition, causing his hopes to diminish considerably.
At the moment, his main objective was to ensure his daughter Rebecca's safety, and then cautiously return to the royal palace, trying to undo the effect of the curse that that girl had cast upon him.
Moreover, he remained worried about Scarlett's condition, since she had been in critical condition when she was saved by that mysterious man.
Kyros had all kinds of worries on his mind, and on top of that he was confused by his current condition as a toy, feeling frustrated by being unable to exert any power with his small metal body. Had he been in his normal form, he could have simply picked up Rebecca and taken her to safety, but right now he could not even do something as simple as that.
Lowering his head in silence, Kyros thought about what might be the best way to convince Rebecca to listen to his words, but at that very moment, several voices could be heard from outside the cave, and Kyros felt as if his body were freezing, even though that was completely impossible due to his toy form.
Without losing a second, Kyros placed a hand over Rebecca's mouth to keep her from speaking loudly and alerting Doflamingo's men outside the cave, and spoke in a low voice, trying to sound calm.
"Rebecca, the bad men are here. If they find you, you'll never be able to see your mom again. What I want you to do is hide behind those rocks and don't make any noise. I'll go out and distract them to draw their attention. Remember, no matter what happens, don't leave the cave. Wait for your mother here."
Rebecca nodded slowly, her eyes full of tears, showing that she understood the little toy's words. Although she did not know where this strange being had come from, she did know that bad men were looking for her and her mother, since Scarlett had told her so earlier.
Even though Rebecca was a spoiled child, she was quite obedient and intelligent, so even after the little toy soldier stopped covering her mouth, she did not make a sound and ran to hide behind a large rock inside the cave, exactly as Kyros had instructed.
Seeing that his young daughter had hidden herself deep within the cave, Kyros let out a sigh of relief and rushed out at full speed to confront Doflamingo and his men. His sole objective was to draw the Warlord away from this place in order to keep his child safe, and he did not care if he had to sacrifice his life to do so.
On the other hand, Doflamingo had arrived at the location accompanied by members of his crew, although none of his main officers were by his side at the moment. For many years, the Warlord had been steadily accumulating power, and he now commanded a large number of soldiers within the ranks of his personal army.
These soldiers were responsible for carrying out most logistical and administrative tasks, while the high-ranking officers handled only important matters or assignments that Doflamingo gave them directly.
At present, the core of Doflamingo's crew was spread throughout the kingdom of Dressrosa, attempting to locate Orion and the members of the Riku royal family who had managed to escape from his grasp.
Doflamingo was truly furious over the fact that the carefully laid plan he had devised had been partially ruined by the sudden intervention of Orion and Giolla. If there was one thing the arrogant pirate utterly despised, it was the feeling of not being in control of the situation, something he was not accustomed to experiencing.
He and his crew had arrived in Dressrosa a few days earlier with the intention of conquering the land swiftly and securely, yet instead of everything proceeding smoothly, they had ended up with two of their main members killed by their enemies.
The loss of Giolla at the hands of the woman who bore the same name but a different appearance had undoubtedly been a tremendous blow to Doflamingo's forces and to his pride, but Diamante's death had been even worse, causing the pirate to momentarily lose his sanity as he felt that everything was going wrong.
Diamante was one of his oldest subordinates, and Doflamingo regarded him as part of his closest family, so his sudden death had struck him deeply, prompting him to immediately begin the search for the culprit.
Although they did not have many clues, he believed that the only person capable of killing Diamante in Dressrosa at this moment was the mysterious man who had appeared to ruin his plans, or one of his associates.
For that reason, Doflamingo had spent the past several hours meticulously searching the area surrounding the place where Diamante's corpse had been found, continuously expanding the scope of the search. Eventually, they had reached the place where Rebecca was hidden, waiting for her mother, and were on the verge of discovering her.
"Search that cave! I don't want a single stone left unturned!" Doflamingo said vehemently.
His terrified subordinates immediately responded to his orders and rushed toward the cave entrance to investigate, fearing that if they took too long, they would be eliminated by the enraged pirate.
However, before they could reach the cave entrance, a toy soldier suddenly appeared, attacking them with great skill and knocking them out of combat.
Even though Kyros now inhabited a toy body, he still possessed sharp battle instincts, and he was able to incapacitate the low-ranking soldiers simply by striking their joints and destroying them with precise blows.
Doflamingo's forehead filled with grotesquely bulging veins when he saw that a small toy was standing in his way, and although he did not know the toy's identity, he knew without a doubt that it was someone who had been transformed by Sugar using her Devil Fruit powers.
"Bullet String."
Doflamingo had no time to waste on the small toy at this moment, and he swiftly fired several consecutive shots, intending to shatter the little toy soldier's body without killing him.
He knew perfectly well that Sugar's toys could not feel pain, so he was not trying to physically hurt him to make him suffer, but simply to immobilize him.
Once the toy no longer had arms or legs, he would throw it into a dark cell to spend the rest of its life trapped in darkness, unable to die. That was the greatest suffering Doflamingo could inflict upon Kyros, and it was his first choice, given his sadistic and ruthless nature.
The little toy soldier tried to evade Doflamingo's relentless attacks while moving as far away from the cave entrance as possible, but his current body could not move the way he wanted, and there was no way he could face someone of the pirate's level.
Bang!
One of Doflamingo's projectiles exploded against one of the toy soldier's legs, completely destroying it. Even so, Kyros immediately got back up after hitting the ground, hopping forward at full speed on one leg, still stubbornly determined to put as much distance as possible between himself and the cave where his young daughter was hidden.
Bang!
A second projectile exploded against the toy's other leg, destroying it without any suspense.
Kyros fell to the ground once more, but he did not stop moving, using his hands to drag himself forward at great speed. Thanks to his persistence, he had managed to get quite far from the cave entrance, yet he still could not give up. He had to keep moving, going as far away from this place as he possibly could.
Bang, bang.
However, two more projectiles destroyed his small toy arms, leaving Kyros completely immobilized on the ground. Doflamingo approached him with a macabre smile and placed his foot on the toy soldier's body as he spoke in a grim tone.
"Why do you make me waste my time?"
Then he turned to look toward the distant cave, and using his Observation Haki, he sensed a small presence inside, a child. The macabre smile on Doflamingo's face grew even wider, and his sadistic nature emerged once more.
"Let me guess. There's someone precious to you in there, and you don't want me to find them."
Kyros felt a deep surge of worry upon hearing Doflamingo's words, and, looking with difficulty at the pirate standing over him, he tried to utter a few words to divert his attention, only to be interrupted before he could do so.
"You don't have to say anything. I get it, you're a very sentimental toy… How about this, then? I'll bring out whoever is in that cave, and I'll let you watch with your own eyes as I execute them right here. I'll do it quickly, as a favor to you."
The small toy soldier began to thrash from side to side, trying desperately to free himself from Doflamingo's foot, which was crushing him as if he were a worthless piece of trash. Yet no matter how much he struggled, it was impossible to escape; his toy body was not designed for combat, and he could only watch helplessly as Doflamingo prepared to end the life of his little daughter, Rebecca.
"Aaaaarrggghhh!"
A scream filled with sorrow and pain burst from the small toy soldier, who was enduring the greatest psychological torture imaginable at that moment. For a loving father, there was nothing more terrifying than watching someone harm his children while being utterly unable to do anything about it.
Doflamingo grinned from ear to ear, feeling a morbid thrill welling up inside him and releasing some of the foul mood that had plagued him over the past few days. At least now, he was in control of the life of this miserable man turned into a toy, and of the child he was desperately trying to protect, and that brought him pleasure.
"What are you waiting for? Go to the cave and bring me the child that's in there!" Doflamingo said, once again barking orders at his soldiers on the scene.
The soldiers once more rushed toward the cave entrance, while the anguished screams of the small toy soldier continued to echo through the area. However, just as they were about to enter the cave, a deep voice resounded throughout the place, making everyone present feel a crushing pressure in their chests.
"Thirty-Six Styles, Dimensional Slash!"
Doflamingo's soldiers, who had suddenly been frozen in place after being affected by the Conqueror's Haki involuntarily released by Orion, were struck head-on by the powerful attack and utterly destroyed, with the vast majority of them being cut in two at chest level.
The massive wave of spatial energy produced by the attack continued hurtling forward at full speed toward Doflamingo, who had once again grown serious, his expression twisted with fury. Before it could strike his body, however, the pirate raised a massive wall of threads coated in Armament Haki and managed to block Orion's powerful assault.
"Every time I see that stupid smile of yours, it makes me want to vomit. Maybe I should keep wiping out your crew, and perhaps that way I'll wipe that smile off your face as well," Orion said in a provocative tone, standing at the cave entrance.
Behind Orion stood King Riku, Viola, and the beautiful Giolla. The moment Doflamingo saw them, his emotions exploded completely. These were the ones responsible for all of his headaches over the past few days, and now they were all gathered together. It was the perfect opportunity to kill them.
"Overheat," Doflamingo said, launching a massive flaming cord composed of countless threads.
Orion was about to intercept the attack, but before he could, Giolla stepped forward, using her special abilities to aid him.
"Art Wall!"
A gigantic wall of paint appeared out of nowhere, its colorful pigments spinning at great speed and producing an almost hypnotic effect. Upon seeing the artistic powers of the Ato Ato no Mi that Giolla wielded, and her appearance—which was somewhat similar to that of the Giolla of this world when he had met her many years ago—Doflamingo's mind fell into deep confusion, and the power of his attack diminished slightly.
Bang!
The flaming cord crashed against the wall of paint, destroying several defensive layers until it was finally completely repelled by Giolla, who, with a flick of her brush, transformed the cord into a serpent that lunged at Doflamingo and violently bit into his neck.
The pain of the serpent's fangs piercing his body cleared Doflamingo's mind. Looking at Giolla once more, his expression grew somber, and he stopped dwelling on useless thoughts.
It did not matter that the woman before him resembled Giolla and used similar attacks; she was not his Giolla, but simply an enemy, and there was only one fate for his enemies…
With a slight movement of his fingers, Doflamingo destroyed the serpent by piercing it with countless threads, causing it to explode and turn into a puddle of paint on the ground. Then, he released his own Conqueror's Haki, causing the living paint on his shoulder that was trying to alter his body to perish in an instant.
Orion looked at the pale face of his beloved Giolla, who had clearly had to push herself to her limits to compete with the Warlord in that exchange, and gently placed a hand on her cheek.
"Thank you for your help, Giolla, but let me take care of this. You go with Viola and her father to look for Rebecca."
Giolla looked Orion in the eyes with tenderness and nodded, entering the cave without looking back. She had wanted to help her beloved because he was exhausted after spending hours operating on Scarlett using Room, but it was clear that she did not have the level required to assist him against such a powerful enemy, and she would only become a hindrance if she insisted on staying there.
The best course of action was to stick to the plan they had agreed upon on the way there, and for that reason Giolla entered the cave together with the two members of the royal family to search for Rebecca.
Although the girl did not remember Kyros, she did remember her aunt and her grandfather, which made it far easier for them to get her to obey. Moreover, Scarlett was now inside the Pocket Dimension, so they simply needed to tell her that her mother was nearby for the girl to agree to go with them.
Only Orion and Doflamingo remained at the site, standing face to face, and it was time for yet another confrontation between the two. However, Orion was not currently in peak condition to fight, and his strategy was simply to hold his ground and successfully evacuate Rebecca and the toy soldier.
"You've finally decided to show your pathetic face in front of m—"
"Room."
Orion had no intention whatsoever of listening to the pirate's boring monologues, so he immediately activated his spatial ability, generating a large Room around himself. Then, with a snap of his fingers, he made the small, half-destroyed toy soldier appear in his hand.
"Don't worry, Rebecca will be fine, you have my word," Orion said with a gentle smile, before adding, "The precious minutes you bought weren't in vain. They gave us enough time to get here and put her somewhere safe."
The small body of the toy soldier seemed to tremble slightly, and Kyros stared fixedly at Orion, feeling immense gratitude for his help and for his words. The "Charisma Halo" that the system had granted him as a passive buff was able to affect Kyros even in his toy form, causing his favorability toward Orion to rise rapidly, driven by the gratitude Kyros was feeling.
Meanwhile, Doflamingo's pupils contracted behind his dark glasses, as he had finally recognized the ability Orion had used.
"You… How is it possible that you have the powers of the Ope Ope no Mi?!" the pirate said, sounding agitated, yet with a feeling of greed surging through him.
The Ope Ope no Mi was the most valuable Devil Fruit, one he had been searching for for years and had lost because of his traitor brother Corazon. Now that Orion was using those powers right in front of him, his mind held only a single thought: kill Orion and obtain the Ope Ope no Mi.
"Shouldn't you be worrying about something else?" Orion said with a provocative smile, pointing toward the pirate's feet.
Doflamingo lowered his head to see what Orion was indicating and noticed that he was standing on a strange metal box. Orion had used his Room to swap Kyros's position with this box, which he had immediately taken out of his inventory.
Suddenly, Orion's smile deepened, and extending his hand, he said,
"Canvas Realm."
A dome appeared around Doflamingo, momentarily trapping him inside Orion's spatial ability, although he would have no trouble escaping using his powerful attacks.
Even so, Orion's intention had never been to trap him inside his Canvas Realm, but simply to use this portable mini-dimension as a shield to protect himself. To defend against his true attack.
The box beneath Doflamingo's feet began to tremble violently, and a hand coated in Armament Haki emerged from it. Doflamingo instinctively leapt back to avoid an attack from the hand and prepared to slice it apart with his Haki-coated threads.
However, the hand did not strike with something like a Shigan. Instead, it grabbed a pistol from inside the metal box and fired at Doflamingo.
Bang!
A massive explosion erupted inside the Canvas Realm, producing cracks across the dome Orion had deployed to contain the violent energy released by the detonation of one of his precious Dyna Stone projectiles.
Even so, Orion knew that would not be enough to finish off the pirate, so he immediately prepared his next move.
"Foggy, come here," Orion said, focusing his mental energy and using one of his newest techniques: summoning.