Head In The Sand

The dead soil of the Barrens made it more than easy for Dante to dig a large trench in the ground, using Pandora Form 109: Labour, a simple shovel, to make the endeavour much easier on himself.

With Batman still on the ground unconscious and Dante's trench having been dug within a few minutes, the half-devil was stuck waiting for the Beast to reawaken, passing the time by sitting atop the recently made pile of soil and playing random chords on the Nevan.

Eventually though Dante became bored of waiting, the sun having long since gone down by this point leaving him in the dark, the area around him lit only by the light of Pandora Form 297: Sanctuary, taking the shape of a lantern.

He jumped off of the pile of dirt, wiping himself down to ensure his outfit remained clean at all times and grabbed the unconscious Batman by the neck, dragging his body over to the edge of the trench, laying him along the length of the ditch.

From there, he stood atop the body and placed his weight down on the pirate's back, using his other foot to kick Batman upside the head. The Beast woke with a shout of terror and pain, the only sight ahead of him being a hole in the ground.

"Oh shit! Oh no, no, no... God!"

Dante simply waited while Batman began crying out to God, spouting out nonsense about how "it wasn't me, it was Ulti!", begging Kaido for mercy. After a few minutes, the man stopped shouting, giving Dante the opportunity to finally talk.

"Kaido is gonna be the least of your problems if you don't tell me exactly what I want to know. See that ditch?"

Dante paused for dramatic effect. Batman gave a shakey nod.

"Good. See, that there ditch is where I'm gonna be burying you in about 10 minutes. Now, we got two options here. Either you tell me what I want, and I kill you nice and quick, or you don't and I bury you alive in that hole."

Batman began to writhe against Dante's foot, trying to unfurl his wings and fly away, entirely unable to move against the weight of Dante's boot on his back. His breathing intensified, he began tearing up.

"I'm sure you can imagine how horrible it would be. Your lungs slowly filling up with rotten soil, choking alive on the dirt you walk along, begging and pleading for any God that would listen to help you. Vision goes dark, mouth goes dry, unimaginable terror as the last dregs of life slowly leave you."

Batman never stopped trying to get out from under Dante's boot, desperately trying to escape with every speck of energy he had.

"But, like I said, we don't have to go that route. All I need is a few questions answered, and we can make this much easier on you. What do you say?"

"Yes! Anything you want, I'll tell you, just please, please let me go!"

Dante scratched the back of his head, expressing faux sympathy for the Beast.

"Ah well, the thing is buddy, you tried to kill me. I ain't gonna let that slide I'm afraid. You made that choice, can't go back on it now."

Batman seemingly realised the hopelessness of his situation, and so simply went slack against the ground, his eyes going dull in acceptance. He was going to die anyway, so out of spite he decided to defy Dante.

Shrugging his shoulders, Dante simply kicked Batman down into the hole and reformed Pandora into Form 109, shovelling dirt into the hole as Batman tried again to fly away. He was stopped by a Doppelganger Dante had summoned to keep watch of the pirate while he filled the ditch, being held down against the floor by it afterwards.

"Your choice, pal. I killed a lot of bad folks like you in my time so I'm certainly not gonna lose any sleep over it. Just remember, while you choke down on dust and dirt, that you brought this on yourself."

Slowly but surely, piles of dirt began to fall on Batman who could do nothing but watch as his death fell down upon him, pile by pile. His willingness to spite Dante slowly eroded as his fear overtook said hatred.

Mid-shovel, Dante was interrupted by a cry from Batman, desperate and hoarse.

"Alright! I'll tell you what you want, just put the shovel down!"

Smiling, Dante dismissed Pandora and sat atop the walls of the ditch, kicking his legs as he began asking questions.

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"Let's begin. What happened to Wano?"

"You mean New Onigashima? We wanted resources, and we wanted land. This place had both, an untapped nirvana. All we did was exploit something everyone else was too afraid to, the Barrens are whats left."

"What else is there on this island?"

"You really don't know anything, do you? There's a prison here. Run by one of Kaido's best men, Queen. If you end up in there, you'll never see the outside world again. We also got places for the people of New Onigashima to live, and we let them keep their Flower Capitol too."

"What does Kaido want with this place? A home? Territory?"

"Pirate Paradise. A place where any Beast, hell any Pirate, can feel at home. No laws, no lawmen, just beasts in their natural habitat. Onigashima is where Kaido and his best men stay, partying the days away. All Kaido wants is for Yamato to inherit New Onigashima and help it flourish. That and a good fight."

Two new pieces of information, two incredibly important ones too. Kaido wants a fight, and Kaido has a next of kin.

"Who's Yamato? And what do you mean by good fight?"

"Kaido's son, a fearsome warrior no less. I've never seen him myself, but if he's anything like Kaido then he's a monster. And all Kaido wants is a warrior to duel. A fight to the death, with real stakes, a genuine challenge."

Dante was surprised by how much Batman was spilling, as well as how much he knew. He was skeptical about the validity of this information, but he doubted Batman was in the mood to lie given his situation.

Several minutes go by, the same loop of Dante asking and Batman answering, until finally the half-devil was satisfied with what he learned..

"Appreciate it, Batman. You earned this."

Before Batman could question Dante, the half-devil shot dead the Beast with a single bullet through his head. He had a lot to think on now. Plans brewing.

Kaido wants a fight. Kaido wants a challenge. Best bet was to not give him one, that'd be giving Doflamingo and Kaido what they want. It was more than obvious by now that Doflamingo's 'client' didn't exist, instead being a bait to have Dante be killed by either Kaido himself, or a member of the Beast Pirates. Then again, it was always pretty obvious.

Dante now knew some pieces of information about the island, though he still knew nothing of the SMILE fruits and the Kozuki family, he did have a plan.

Investigate more about Yamato. Kaido wants a fight, probably wants to die after years spent at the apex of the world, so doing that means Kaido wins. Then again, if Kaido attacks him Dante won't hold back from making a rug out of the bastard.

Walking away from the hole he dug, Dante went about his way in a random direction, eager to see more of the island. Wano had a lot more to show him than he initially expected, and he couldn't wait to learn it all.