In the dim glow of the Egg Dragoon's cockpit, Robotnik V. Midas sat surrounded by flickering holographic screens and endless lines of code. Some say the greatest weapon is the mind. Others claim it is unbreakable will. A few insist it is raw, overwhelming power. Midas allowed a faint, cold smile to cross his lips as the thought echoed through his mind. For him, the answer had always been the mind—sharp, calculating, and utterly ruthless.
Right now, that mind was focused on the greatest immediate threat: Kaido's supreme techniques. Without the Metal Virus, without a full Death Egg or a completed Death Egg Robot, Midas had still prepared something elegant and lethal enough to counter even the strongest Devil Fruit users. Outside, his robots had already driven countless kairoseki needles deep into the Tobiroppo, neutralizing their powers with brutal efficiency. But Kaido was no ordinary foe. Piercing that thick, scaled hide would not be easy, and without his specialized Mecha Sonics designed for cutting, creating the necessary opening would demand precision and ingenuity.
"Well… let's begin," Midas muttered, guiding the Egg Dragoon's massive mechanical arm to load an enormous canister of fine black powder—tinged with a faint bluish hue—into one of the gatling cannon's barrels.
The Dragoon stepped forward onto the ruined battlefield of Onigashima's central plaza, the ground trembling beneath its weight. The cannon spun up with a high-pitched whine before unleashing a concentrated burst. A thick cloud of shimmering black dust exploded across the open area, coating everything in a toxic veil. The stage that once hosted the Beast Pirates' raucous gatherings was reduced to splinters and ash in seconds.
A deep, rasping laugh tore through the settling cloud like thunder.
"Worororo~!"
From the haze emerged an enormous figure, standing nearly eye-level with the towering Egg Dragoon. Kaido, the King of the Beasts, stepped forward, his hybrid form radiating raw menace. His red-and-black scales gleamed, and his massive kanabo rested casually on one shoulder. The pirate emperor stared at the mechanical monstrosity with a mixture of intrigue and fury, clearly impressed by the firepower and design that rivaled even his own monstrous size.
"So you're the brat I've been hearing about in the newspapers," Kaido growled, his voice low and dangerous. "You've got some nerve showing up at my doorstep with your toys."
He lifted his chin arrogantly. "I'll overlook what you've done here today… if you kneel right now and swear yourself to me as my subordinate. A man with your brains and these machines could be useful. Even Vegapunk's satellites aren't worth throwing away a chance like this."
The response was immediate.
The Dragoon's gatling cannon roared again, firing the pressurized canister directly at Kaido's face. The black powder cloud engulfed the emperor completely. Kaido began coughing violently, his lungs burning as the kairoseki dust, white lead, and carefully mixed irritants invaded his respiratory system. Before he could recover, the Dragoon lunged, driving its massive kairoseki-coated drill arm forward in a vicious thrust. The drill spun wildly, screeching against Kaido's tough hide as it tried to bore through.
Kaido roared in pain and fury, swinging his kanabo in a devastating arc. The blow connected, sending the entire Egg Dragoon skidding backward across the stone ground, sparks flying from its chassis.
"What the hell is this?!" Kaido bellowed, coughing harder than he ever had in his life. Blood trickled from his nostrils, a rare sight that sent ripples of panic through the few remaining Beast Pirates watching from afar.
"Kairoseki powder, white lead, and just a hint of vanilla lavender fabric softener for better dispersal," Midas replied calmly from inside the cockpit, his fingers dancing across the control panels as he recalibrated the damaged systems. "I call it 'Dragon's Cough.'"
"You bastard!" Kaido snarled, attempting to transform further or summon his flames, only to find his Devil Fruit powers suppressed by the powder now burning inside his lungs. More blood seeped from his eyes and nose.
Midas chuckled darkly. "You know, I really wouldn't have stood a chance in a fair fight. But the greatest weapon is the mind. I could have brought a Devil Fruit to end you instantly, but finding one strong enough is harder than finding the mother of a certain monkey. So we do things the smart way."
He slammed a sequence of buttons. Panels across the Dragoon's chest irised open, unleashing a storm of guided missiles that streaked toward Kaido. The emperor spun his kanabo like a whirlwind, detonating many in mid-air, but several still found their marks, exploding against his massive frame.
---
Outside the main battlefield, the port had become a slaughterhouse. Most of the Beast Pirates were already dead or dying, crushed beneath the relentless advance of Egg Hammers and Sea Paws. A small, carefully selected group of stronger fighters had been spared—chained with kairoseki and marked for future robotization. Their screams echoed across the blood-soaked docks as the mechanical army carried out Midas's orders with cold precision.
The ground suddenly shook violently as the colossal figures of Kaido and the Egg Dragoon crashed through a nearby structure, tumbling into view. Smoke poured from multiple breaches in the Dragoon's armor. Kaido was visibly struggling, blood streaming from his eyes, nose, and mouth as he fought just to breathe.
"K-Kaido-sama is bleeding?!" a surviving pirate screamed in pure panic.
Several Egg Hammers broke formation without new orders and charged Kaido to buy time. Smaller Badnik units swarmed the damaged Dragoon, welding plates, replacing parts, and performing emergency repairs. A few even entered the cockpit to administer quick medical aid to Midas himself.
"God… I really need to install a better shock absorption system," Midas groaned, vomiting into a bucket before wiping his mouth and seizing the controls again. The Dragoon barely dodged a desperate swing from a damaged Egg Hammer whose head had been caved in by Kaido's earlier blow.
"Now… I think it's time," Midas whispered.
He reached into his red coat and pulled out a single glowing pink spike. It was no ordinary object—a concentrated Flame Mother energy core, recreated and refined after Midas had studied every scrap of data he could find on Sonic the Hedgehog's power. He had taken Eggman's obsession to its absolute limit.
"Hello, my baby~" he cooed, licking the tip of the spike for a moment. A violent electric shock coursed through his body, making every nerve sing. Without hesitation, he slammed the spike into the central reactor of the Egg Dragoon.
The entire machine jolted violently to life. Sections of its armor burned away, turning silvery metallic, while other internal components glowed with a bright, pulsating pink energy. The cockpit filled with raw power.
"I can feel it… I feel the POWEEER!!" Midas screamed in ecstasy.
The Egg Dragoon let out a mechanical roar that sounded almost alive as its systems overclocked. The gatling cannon spun up again, but this time it didn't fire ordinary bullets. Beams of pure, concentrated energy erupted outward in a blinding barrage.
Patatatatatatatatatata!
A relentless rain of light bullets hammered into Kaido. The emperor's body, already compromised by the kairoseki poison and white lead, offered little resistance. Holes punched through his scales, some glowing with an eerie pink hue as the energy burned straight through muscle and bone. The stench of charred flesh filled the air.
"…Looks like… I won't get to see Joy Boy after all…" Kaido rasped, his voice fading.
Before he could finish the thought, the Dragoon's drill arm shot forward with terrifying speed, piercing straight through the emperor's skull with a sickening crunch. Midas had no intention of letting Kaido survive. He would lose the Azure Dragon fruit, but leaving a monster like Kaido alive was never an option.
"The era of pirates… is already over," Midas declared, his face hidden in shadow inside the cockpit, only his glowing red eyes visible. "This… is my era."
He leaned forward, voice cold and commanding as it broadcast across all frequencies to his entire mechanical army.
"All units… advance into Wano. Kill everyone. Leave no survivors."
A synchronized chime echoed from every Badnik on the island as the remaining forces disengaged from their current tasks and began marching inland, an unstoppable orange tide ready to consume the entirety of Wano Country. The Egg Dragoon slowly turned and retreated toward the massive ship, smoke still trailing from its wounds, while the first true dawn of Robotnik's empire began to rise over the blood-stained lands.