208. Death

Mace grinned as he heard Shinobu. His body started to change. Black markings appeared over his skin, his hair turned red and started to grow. It only stopped when it was at waist length.

Ashura!

Doflamingo was slightly taken back.

Mace curled his lips and brought down his sword. It slashed through the air and struck at the incoming attack.

Boom!

Their collision caused a shockwave. Doflamingo was pushed back.

Just at that moment Doflamingo felt an intense feeling of danger assaulted his mind. His quickly wrapped his body with threads.

Bang! Bang!

Two shots rang.

Doflamingo was bound inside a ball of thread. He looked down at his shoulder and his right arm which were shot. He was bleeding.

Damn that sniper!

Rage spilled out of him. He slammed his palm onto the ground.

The ground and the buildings around him turned into threads. His eyes narrowed as he locked onto Violet who was laying on top of a building in the distance.

Thread Bullet!

The strings condensed and turned into bullets. He was about to shoot it when Shinobu silently appeared behind him.

"Focus."

Needles as thin as hairs floated around her. If not for his kenbunshoku haki Doflamingo wouldn't even have noticed.

White Out!

The ground turned into strings and rose up. It formed a wall behind him and blocked her needles.

Before he could act again Mace appeared and swung his sword. He was still in his Ashura form. His sword cleaved through the wall of strings and reached Doflamingo.

Spider Net!

Doflamingo raised his arm. Strings stretched out and formed a net. It stopped Mace's attack, however the strength behind the strike stretched the net very far.

Bang!

At this moment another shot rang out.

Dammit!

White Out!

He roared inside his mind. Everything around him turned into strings and flooded in every direction. Mace and Shinobu backed out.

Doflamingo had a ball of fire burning inside his chest. Left, right, front, back... he was locked in.

His shoulder and his right arm was bleeding. And he was out numbered. He raised his head and looked at Shinobu. There was no running away from her.

Then go to hell!

Madness filled his eyes, a creepy laughter escaped his mouth.

"Ufufufu... Bird Cage!"

He raised his left arm and pointed it to the sky. A thick line of strings shot into the sky. When it reached a certain height it exploded and spread out in every direction.

The strings took an arched path and fell on the ground. It dug deep into the earth, from outside it looked exactly like a bird cage.

Shinobu's kenbunshoku haki picked up the strings slowly inching towards the center, leaving deep scars on the ground.

Under these circumstances this must be his final resort. She thought to herself.

Doflamingo had an evil grin on his face, he stared at Shinobu and said, "What will you do know, vice admiral Shinobu? The bird cage will close in, it will slice apart everything in it's path, including people you want to protect. Now, what will you do?"

Shinobu slightly smiled.

At this moment Issho rose from the ground. He sheathed his sword and reported, "This Issho didn't fail, ma'am."

What?

A bad feeling rose in Doflamingo's heart. He spread out his kenbunshoku haki and didn't find a single soul aside from his enemies and his remaining cadres inside the bird cage.

That blind man really got them all out?!

A vein popped on his temple. He clenched his fist so hard that his nails dug into his flesh.

Shinobu suddenly let out a mesmerising smile, "Do you know why I tied you down all this time? With your ability and speed you can dodge my poison, and if you really bet your life you can escape from here."

"That is unless I use something you can't dodge. Now, with the civilians out of the way let's get the party started."

Swish!

Issho, Mace and the rest flashed and disappeared far into the distance.

Shinobu stepped through the sky and came to a halt. She spread out her arms. Red mist spilled out like an endless stream from her palms.

What is she doing?

Though Doflamingo had no idea what she was doing he knew for sure that the red mist was poisonous.

He used the strings and pulled himself far. When he looked back his pupils shrunk, a cold sweat dripped down his cheeks.

Red mist flooded the entire bird cage. Like a tidal wave it crashed towards him, he wanted to move faster. But the red mist was spreading fast.

Dammit!

Doflamingo cursed. He clenched his fist and crossed them over his chest.

Strings poured out from the ground and started to wound around him. In a second he was enclosed by a dense collection of strings in the form of a ball, it had closed him off from the outside world.

The red mist soon swallowed the ball of strings. Shinobu stood high up in the sky. When the red mist filled the entire bird cage and swallowed Doflamingo she raised her right arm.

Like a vaccum the red mist started to receed. Soon it disappeared, along with the bird cage.

Shinobu flashed infront of the ball of strings. Issho, Mace and the rest also stood beside her.

Mace slashed the ball of strings. It was split in half and Doflamingo rolled out. His skin had turned red like blood, and he was bleeding from all his orifices.

Shinobu shot a needle through his head, just to be thorough.

Mace reported, "Only Pika and Trebol slipped out."

Shinobu asked, "And the toys?"

Mace shook his head, "Still toys."

Issho spoke, "Which means the devil fruit user is still alive. The only place where they could hide from madam's attack is here."

He tapped his cane sword on the ground.

Every agreed. They moved towards the King's Plateau. When they got there Issho found path leading underground.

They followed it and came across a large steel door. Issho taped his sword on the door, it crumpled like a piece of paper.

When the door fell they saw three people inside.

"That's Trebol and Pike. And the last one is... a little girl?"

Pike and Trebol stared at the intruders. Their heart fell when they saw them enter.

Doffy died?

This sounded inconceivable but judging by the fact that all of them were here...

"You bastards!"

Pika roared angrily. With his remaining arm he punched the floor. The ground started rumble and swell up.

"That's enough out of you."

Mace flashed before him and slashed his sword. Pika had lost an arm, even though he sliced it off very fast a portion of the poison still remained in his body.

He couldn't react fast enough. Mace sliced through his chest, he sunk his sword into his chest.

"Bastards...

Pika coughed out blood. His eyes lost focus and soon fell down in his own blood.

Trebol reacted in time. He was about to run away with Sugar when Issho flashed before him.

A heavy pressure fell on Trebol. His body felt as if it weighted a ton. He lost strength and was crushed on the floor.

Issho sheathed his sword very slowly. The pressure increased exponentially.

Trebol could hear his own bones being crushed into powder. He was being crushed into meat paste.

Issho fully sheathed his sword. He walked away and stood with the rest.

Sugar was trembling. Her face was pale and devoid of colour.

Shinobu walked to her, he kneeled down and said with a smile on her face, "You devil fruit stunned your growth, so you are not a kid but an adult woman."

Sugar's mouth opened wide. How did she know? How did she know?!

Shinobu traced her finger across Sugar's cheek, "I am excellent doctor."

After saying that she stood up and walked away.

As they walked out Mace asked, "Ma'am, since she ain't a kid why not I...

Shinobu asked back, "Who said I didn't?"

Huh?

She spoke with a light smile on her face, "There are immediate reacting poisons as well as slow reacting ones."

Ahahaha...

Mace let out an awkward laugh and didn't speak anymore.

Back inside the room Sugar was on the floor. Her breathing slowly came to a halt.