"Diamante."
Doflamingo's smile dropped the instant he saw it. One word. Enough to warn his officer to use his head.
Pet or not, that pet belonged to Ozz.
Ozz only looked amused. He could tell Doffy was not protecting the bird. He was protecting Ozz's mood. The rest of the family clearly did not share that caution. To them the Seagull King was just that, a bird. A mascot with feathers.
"Looks like they really are underestimating you, my Seagull King."
Chin in one hand, Ozz teased. The bird understood. Rage flashed in its eyes.
"Caw."
A glossy black sheen crawled over its beak.
Clink.
It lunged. A single peck. Diamante's steel fork snapped in half like cheap tin.
"You have got to be kidding me. That was Armament Haki?"
Diamante stared at the broken utensil, horror widening his eyes. If that strike had landed on his hand he would be nursing a hole.
The Seagull King did not bother to answer. It scooped the disputed dessert clean in three bites, posture dripping with contempt. It was the kind of attitude that made fists itch.
The officers bristled. Doffy said nothing. Ozz looked entertained.
"Doffy, I just thought of a fun game. Interested?"
Doflamingo never spoiled Ozz's fun. He leaned in with a grin. The next words made his shades flash.
"You all keep treating the Seagull King like my pet. Truth is, he is a monster among gulls. Beat him, and I will let the past slide and publicly endorse your rule of Dressrosa."
That bait was irresistible. Doflamingo's grin nearly reached his ears.
This was a gift from the heavens. If they won, not only would the rift with Ozz close, but Dressrosa's foundation would harden to bedrock. Ozz's open support was a different beast than tacit tolerance. If they were driven out someday, Ozz would likely shrug. But if he endorsed them, anyone who tried to take Dressrosa would be picking a fight with the Black Emperor himself.
And all they had to do was defeat a seagull.
"Fufufufu. If that is Ozz-sama's wish, we would be honored."
…
On the King's Plateau, a sea of sunflowers swayed. Flat ground. Perfect for a duel.
A lounger. A parasol. Juice and snacks on a side table.
Ozz sprawled like a man at a beach show, the very picture of relaxed menace. On the armrest, the Seagull King stood tall. It eyed the gathered Donquixote officers, feathers tight, gaze steady.
"Good boy."
Ozz scratched its head, voice dropping to a low murmur the bird alone could hear.
"Relax. I will give you a hand."
He would not step in. But a little offstage assistance never hurt. And no one would notice.
Across the field, the Donquixote cadres rolled their shoulders and grinned like the match was already won.
"It is a bird. Even if it can use Haki, so what."
"Heh heh. Dressrosa is ours for good."
"Exactly."
Even Doflamingo looked confident.
"Even if it takes the sky, that thing is not my match."
Threads gathered at his fingertips, Armament Haki hardening them to black. The Seagull King beat its wings and glared back.
At Ozz's lazy signal, bullets and shells blossomed upward in a roaring storm.
"Caw." Useless.
The bird slipped through the barrage like a ghost, wingbeats cutting arcs in the air. When a round could not be avoided, that black sheen rolled over its feathers and the shots glanced away.
"Annoying flight."
No one saw Ozz's fingers crook, subtle as a puppet master's tug.
Right now, the Seagull King was running on Ozz's inputs. A real-time game. The officers as elite mobs. Doflamingo as the boss.
"Now we are talking."
A thin red gleam flashed in Ozz's eyes.
The gull knifed downward in a steep dive, beak wrapped in Armament Haki, carving a black line through the rain of fire, then
Shluck.
Its beak punched clean through Diamante's abdomen. Blood sprayed across the sunflowers.
One hit. Fight over. Diamante crumpled with a wet gasp, clutching his stomach, color draining from his face.
A bird did this.
"A bird."
"Diamante."
Doflamingo's expression shifted at last. He lashed out, his threads blackened with Armament Haki, a whiplash of hardened strings screaming toward the Seagull King.
Impact.
The gull braced, ebony flowing across wings and plumage. It held, but barely. Haki it had. Power it had. Yet the gulf between it and Doflamingo was still there. Even with Ozz on the sticks, raw stats mattered.
And the family finally realized this was not a pet show. It was a reckoning.
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