Not-so-deadly Trap

The explosives rigged inside the bunker were no joke. They were state of the art, designed by Caesar Clown himself, and as such could likely only be surpassed by Vegapunk or a number of other individuals one could count on one hand.

Though they didn't possess the wide scale destructive capability that Caesar preferred from his weapons, in short range they were extremely deadly. Combine that with the close confines of the bunker and you have a death trap that might even kill one of the four Emperors, with the exception of Kaido.

'So slow…' Cherry pondered as she watched the walls and ceiling of the bunker disintegrate or liquify in slow motion.

Compared to the dyna stone detonation back on Fishman Island, it really was slow. Moreover, she has more tools at her disposal now than she had then.

Cherry's arms lifted before her eyes in slow motion as well, like a conductor ready to guide an orchestra through a musical masterpiece. A pulse, almost undetectable, radiated out from her as the shackles on her fusion fruit came loose.

The group didn't even have the time to realize the room was exploding before the walls and ceiling fused back into place, albeit looking much rougher and uglier than the smooth, painted concrete was before.

The ground beneath their feet trembled and the muffled booms just behind the walls cause sweat to flow down their backs as their minds put the pieces into place about what nearly just happened to them.

Diamante's triumphant smile faded at the same time that Cherry beamed with giddiness. The next instant, Luffy's fist slammed into Diamante's face so hard, every single of the teeth in his mouth was shattered and clattered to the floor. Diamante spun through the air from the force of it and knocked his head against an outcropping of concrete, knocking him out.

Law let out a breath. His reactions were quick, but they wouldn't have been quick enough to shambles himself out of that in time. Thankfully, Cherry had dealt with it faster than he could even have the thought to escape.

"Was that your devil fruit awakening?" Law asked.

Cherry winked at him. "That's right. I awakened back on fishman island whilst containing a larger explosion. I can bring the whole bunker down on top of us too, wanna see?"

"No thanks." Law answered. He hoped she was just joking, but he couldn't be entirely certain of that.

"Cherry-chwan! You were so cool!" Sanji gushed over her.

"Thank you very much for saving me!" squeaked Princess Mansherry, looking between both Law and Cherry. She turned to Viola as well "And thank you too for coming for me, Viola."

"I didn't really do much in the end… and what are friends for if not to try to help each other?" Viola said, flushing in the cheeks from embarrassment.

"You intended to save me though, and I couldn't be happier to see you!" Mansherry smiled radiantly.

"Go on and take them somewhere safe, Sanji. We can't drag these two princesses into a fight with Doflamingo." Cherry said sensibly.

"Of course! Allow me to escort you two lovely ladies!" Sanji cheered, offering both his hands to Viola and Mansherry.

Viola had already accomplished her goal of assuring Mansherry's safety, so she had no reason to stick around any longer and assented. Neither she nor Mansherry took Sanji's hand, though, instead opting to walk back out the way they came in with Mansherry riding Viola's shoulder.

Sanji wasn't phased by the apparent rejection to hold his hands as he was quite accustomed to such rejections from the ladies on his own crew. He pranced along behind them, intent on protecting them with his life if need be. All with a big smile on his face.

"Where did Doflamingo go?" Kyros voiced the question a few of them were thinking.

Cherry jogged over to a wall and started clawing through it with her bare hands. They pierced through the stone like it was soft clay, carving a large hole into a secret passageway that partially collapsed from the explosions. She made quick work of those obstacles as well and soon the chase was afoot.

…

Doflamingo felt a twinge from his observation haki, and the distant cacophony muffled beneath many tons of earth and stone told him that the self destruction had triggered.

He really hoped that that demon woman wasn't at the same level as Katakuri with observation haki. With all her other strengths that seemed very unlikely to him, and though he didn't know it that was correct. Katakuri was a freak of nature with observation haki, especially for someone who hasn't quite reached the level of an admiral or emperor.

Doflamingo knew better than to become complacent at this point in time, though. There was too much on the line and he also had two admirals to deal with. It should be possible to deal with Fujitora and he thinks he can manage Akainu too if he fights dirty. He just has to make sure they don't work together, which shouldn't be too hard given their very opposing ideals and because they WERE technically enemies.

Doflamingo weaved through the streets, keeping to cover lest he be briefly stalled by someone who wanted to kill him.

*FWOOSH*

Like Ace.

"Doflamingo! Just the man I wanted to see!" Ace spoke boisterously. His crew standing behind him with menacing smirks. "You're a real sneaky rat, you know that? I've been looking for you all over the place!"

Doflamingo, to his credit, didn't let his inner turmoil show on his face. "So you wanted me to be the one to personally kill you, is that it? I'm not afraid of your cowardly father, so I'll gladly do the honors."

Ace literally heated up from the insult to Whitebeard. Doflamingo's fingers twitched, unnoticed by the hot head. "After all, that old bastard left his friend's country to fester and rot beneath Kaido's iron fist, didn't he? Fufufufufu!"

"SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Ace launched forward in a flaming fury.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Several bullets passed through Ace's back harmlessly, but it shocked him nonetheless. He turned his head and saw the smoking barrels of his own crew's guns and the looks of horror on their faces. "Ace, we didn't-!"

*SLASH*

Doflamingo raked his finger strings towards Ace, who barely recovered enough to dodge out of the way.

"Aaagh!" one of Ace's crew ran forward and got hit instead.

"Careful now, boy! If you dodge carelessly, there might be consequences! Fufufufu!" Doflamingo cackled in delight at the bloodshed of Ace's comrade.

"We can't control our bodies, Ace!" "Don't worry about us and take him down!" Ace's crewmates cried out.

Ace couldn't just abandon his comrades, but there was some wisdom to what they said. The only way they'd be free of Doflamingo's grip would be to beat him. Ace flew at Doflamingo, flames racing down his arms.

Doflamingo wriggled his fingers creepily. Shouts of pain came from behind Ace, but he did his best to ignore them. He had to end this quickly.

Ace shot two massive gouts of flames towards Doflamingo. The shouts became then more frenzied.

"Tch!" Doflamingo clicked his tongue as he dodged Ace's attack, the building behind him bursting into flames. His smile was gone.

"Yo, Ace!" a call came from behind.

Ace spared a glance and saw someone he didn't expect to see, but was very glad to. "Sabo!"

Sabo had lightly beaten up Ace's crew and bound them so they wouldn't kill each other. This was undoubtedly the source of Doflamingo's annoyance.

Doflamingo took the chance to yank himself into the air at breakneck speeds. Ace fired at him, but was just a tad slow. He couldn't chase him into the air.

"Damned slippery bastard." Ace cursed, but his frustration turned to relief as he saw his crew safe and sound.