Fool Me Once

Cheeky Author's Note:

Before we start, I'd like to quickly celebrate 30 chapters. Woohoo! It isn't much of a milestone on the grand scheme, but to be honest I never imagined this story would make it past 10. Every chapter feels like a milestone at this point, and I can't describe how much I love writing this story and listening to all the feedback now. Hell, I only even wrote it in the first place because I got sick of the utter lack of Dante fanfiction in the world, but I'm beyond glad I chose to.

It was hard at first. I absolutely suck at writing fight scenes and the whole nature of the series is fights, so it was a challenge adapting to it. I wouldn't say I'm great now, but I've improved and that's more than enough for me. Dialogue has always been my favourite part, from Dante's utter exasperation at the shit he has to deal with, to Vergil slowly destroying the world behind our protagonists back.

The only consideration I have now is how I'll end this volume of the story. I'm not sure exactly what I'll do after I'm finished with one piece, which won't be for a very long time mind you. I was considering something like chainsaw man, or jujutsu kaisen, but I haven't read up on those for a while. The best options would probably be Naruto, DxD or Fate, but I have literally never seen anything to do with Fate so that's off the table. I'm sure I'll come up with something soon, but I won't have to worry for a while anyway.

We're in this one for the long haul by the seems of it, and its gonna be a hell of a journey. My improvisation skills have certainly gotten better while writing this at the very least. As I said, it's a small milestone, but it means a lot to me.

Thank you, truly, for all the support.

────────────────────

Nothing made Dante more excited than the concept of joining a terrorist organisation. Sure, it was only considered terrorism by the tyrannical government and was more of a 'Revolutionary Army' - ergo the name - but Dante wasn't in the mood to care for semantics.

The moment he turned back around from the cloaked woman, she disappeared. At least, she tried to, but he was perfectly capable of seeing her with his Haki for a few hundred meters until the signal fizzled out.

With that brief interaction complete, Dante decided to delay his travels to the Revolutionary Army meeting he had, since they never gave him a specified time to be there by. Plus, he just wanted to make sure the old bastard was okay, he could've fallen down the stairs or god forbid succumbed to lumbago. He shuddered at the thought.

With concerns about the elderly on his mind, Dante continued his walk along the streets of Sabaody, reminiscing on how his grudge with the World Government began on these very lands.

Though it seems he had gotten rather lost in his walk because he soon noticed a scent that was far too familiar, and a Haki signature he never expected to be seeing so soon.

Grinning a devious grin once more, Dante began jogging lightly towards the sounds of combat in the distance, following the scent of molten rock and slag. It was entirely against the wishes of Dragon, who was watching with a grimace as his carefully thought plan was shattered due to Dante not having the concept of a schedule committed to memory.

His grin quickly turned into a grimace as he came upon the site of the battlefield. Old Man Rayleigh was currently engaging a cyborg Akainu - 'who the fuck thought that was a good idea!?' he thought to himself, interrupting his own assessment of the situation- and his friends, the Straw Hats, who were being tossed around by a man he had been acquainted with before.

"Hey asshole!"

He shouted into the open fields, garnering the attention of every combatant in the vicinity. It was as though a shining beacon of hope had arrived for the Straw Hats, as though the clouds had parted and given way to a blessing. For Akainu, it was as though God had granted him his greatest wish.

For Kuma and Dragon, it was an actual fucking nightmare. He was ruining the plan, and none of it could be salvaged. Realising that Dante could ruin everything, Kuma began enacting his plan to transport the Straw Hats away from Sabaody to be trained and remain safe for the future to come.

His first target was the one closest to him, a shaking Robin whom he had been 'fighting' moments prior to Dante's arrival. With a goal set, he raised his palm, charged the power of his Paw-Paw Fruit into it and threw his arm down onto the terrified woman.

Unfortunately, he never succeeded in his objective. His open palm was met with the blade of Dante's Rebellion, and the scowl on his face as he ground the blade into Kuma's hand, an odd mixture of blood and oil leaving the wound. He turned around to Robin, and the Straw Hats in general, flashing a smile.

"We really gotta stop meeting like this."

He twisted the blade of the Rebellion and laid it across his shoulders to parry a strike from Kuma's other hand that swung down violently against his previously exposed back. He didn't turn his head to acknowledge the Shichibukai at all, still keeping his focus on the Straw Hats, briefly turning far more serious than he was a moment ago.

"Sorry I'm late. You ain't gotta worry anymore."

Robin once more reminded herself that Dante was a blessing she didn't deserve.

────────────────────

Dante turned his head after such a charming display and was met with the magma coated fist of an oncoming Akainu, fury in his eyes, and an apologetically smiling Rayleigh, who faked losing the battle briefly to see how Dante's training had paid off.

He couldn't dodge under the blow, as Robin was behind him, so he coated his left hand in Armament Haki and brutally slapped the approaching limb out of sight, sending the semi-cyborg flying into a mound of dirt to the side of the battlefield.

From there, he tightened his grip on the Rebellion and sliced deep into the chest of Kuma, crossing over two swings on his chest before spinning around for a third aimed at the throat, intending to incapacitate Kuma and solve the problem immediately.

The first two strikes landed true, with the same mixture of blood and oil seeping from the wounds, though the third was hastily blocked by a palm that was cleanly sliced in two due to the utter sharpness of the Rebellion.

He jumped up onto the shoulder of Kuma to avoid several raining droplets of Magma, then Tricked around past each member of the Straw Hats, grabbing them one by one and placing them near to Rayleigh.

Once done, he returned to his previous position atop Kuma's shoulder and switched to Lucifer briefly as Akainu once more tried to charge at him in a blind fury. His fists were coated by Magma hotter than any he had seen before, his expression a mix of fury and indifference due to the implant he now required to function normally.

All of that anger, all of that determination was crushed in an instant as Dante set out an array of 5 Lucifer traps directly in his trajectory.

Akainu tried to dodge, turning his lower half into magma so he could fly away, only to be thrown directly into the darts by a grinning Doppelganger Dante had sent behind him.

Turning his attention back to a badly bleeding Kuma, Dante continued to unleash cut after cut upon the Shichibukai with his Rebellion, several times over spinning the sword in his hand to replicate the blades of a helicopter, shredding the arms that were held out to block it. He held no pity for Kuma, though.

"Man, I expected a challenge from the both of you, but instead this was all I got?"

He gazed on the now armless up the elbow Kuma and the equally damaged Akainu, who was a sorry mix of shredded, burned skin and broken bones.

"You got me all worried for nothing. What a waste of my time."

He finished the battle right then and there, stabbing into the chest of Kuma several hundred times in a split second, the large body of the Bear being thrown backwards littered in stab wounds that eviscerated his internal organ systems. At least, what remained of them.

With Kuma disposed of, Dante walked over to Akainu, who was now pathetically glaring at him as he lifted himself onto shaking legs.

"How many times have we done this, Akainu? Surely by now you'd get the memo and just stay down."

He walked forward, sword bared, and cut down each and every attack that was sent in his direction by the Admiral. No matter how many blasts of magma, no matter how many dogs of lava, Dante did not falter. He continued his slow walk.

"I mean, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Just as he entered Akainu's personal space, the marine lashed out with one final desperate attack. Dante threw aside a magma coated fist aimed for his sternum with his Haki coated hand, stomping down on the arm and pinning it in place, lifting his sword up and placing it against the Admirals chest cavity.

"Fool me three times... well you're about to find out what happens when you do."

The blade sunk between Sakazuki's ribs, tearing into his heart and leaving him a choking mess on the ground as his body began to fail, hopelessly reaching out towards Dante's throat in a last ditch effort to strangle him to death.

'If he somehow survives this, I'll be convinced that plot armour is real.'

Thankfully for Dante, Akainu would not survive. The last thing he would lay eyes upon is the Pirate he swore to end with his own bare fists.

Dante watched as the light slowly left Sakazuki's eyes, and in a final display of his childish nature to the man, waved goodbye to the dying Admiral, an air of smugness surrounding him.

────────────────────

Upon finishing his 'heartfelt, honourable' goodbye to Sakazuki, Dante turned in Rayleigh's direction and saw not only the proud smile on the Old Bastards face, but also the awe stricken and slightly disgusted Straw Hats as they watched him with rapt attention.

He began his walk towards them, placing the Rebellion on his back, intending to scold Rayleigh for leaving him to do the heavy lifting only to be stunned by a desperate hug from Robin, who was continuously thanking him as she did so.

She had lost hope in that moment, staring down the towering form of Kuma, and to see Dante arrive and save everyone reminded her of childish stories of Princes and Princesses she would read of as a child. He patted her back, returning the hug and chuckling at the tight she held him.

"I guess you missed me?"

After that, he was positively bombarded by the collective Straw Hats, each of them reacting differently to his presence.

Sanji shouted in dismay that Robin would dare touch Dante. Zoro immediately questioned what the sword Dante held was. Chopper, Usopp and Luffy all simply began to ask him how they can be as strong as he is. Franky slowly backed away as he remembered Dante trying to rob him. Nami just scoffed at Dante's punctuality but reminded herself to thank him for it later.

"Okay, okay let's just calm down here. We got more than enough time to talk, and I got a meeting I need to attend soon. So, let's make a compromise, yeah?" He looked over to Rayleigh who was fondly watching the scene.

"You got a place for them to stay, old man?"

"You kidding? I own a hotel on this Grove, under the name Rip van Winkle. Had a lot of money and nothing to spend it on, so I bought some property."

Dante gave him a look that screamed utter despondency.

"Why the hell was i busting into hotels just to find a place to sleep then, you old bastard!?"

Rayleigh looked shocked for a moment, before bursting into laughter.

"Ahaha! You -Pffft!- You've really been breaking into hotels this whole time? Oh God, you should've just asked! Ahahaha!" Dante grimaces at the obnoxiously loud guffawing of Rayleigh.

"Just take care of them for the night, jackass. I got a meeting I need to attend, pretty damn soon too. I'll be back before you know it."

With that, Dante dashed over towards where he last spotted a map on the island and left the Straw Hats alone with Rayleigh, causing a small pout to form on Robin's face. Rayleigh cracked his knuckles and smiled.

"You kids clearly aren't ready for the New World. Don't worry though. I got a plan for you, and I'm sure Dante's gonna love it."

────────────────────

Before leaving fully, Dante quickly dashed back to Rayleigh, only asking that he keep Akainu's corpse safe and unbothered while he was gone. Rayleigh agreed, though was asking himself several questions as to just what the hell Dante wanted to do with it. The answer was simple, he wanted to experiment.

As of now though, he had more important business to attend to. So, he traversed across the Grove's Street and walked towards a bulletin board with a map of the surrounding islands in a 50 mile distance.

With the map now charted, Dante made a mental note of the path he needed to take in order to reach Cunolan Island. He had delayed it for a while, but now it was finally time to become a terrorist.