|| The Kindhearted Man’s Final Fight! ||
“Listen, Law, Daiko,” Corazon began, pointing to the collection of treasure boxes the Family were stealing from the Barrels Pirates’ hideout, “pirates can’t resist taking treasure boxes to their ships whenever they find them.”
He then led the three over to the boxes, opening the lid on one for Law to get inside. “That means if you stay in here, you’ll definitely have a chance to get out of the cage. Don’t miss it.”
His hand was on Law’s shoulder as Daisuke stood next to Corazon with a pained, but cheery smile. “What about you two?!” Law barked.
Corazon chuckled. “You silly, Doffy wants you and the Ope Ope no Mi power. Doffy and I are brothers by blood. Of course, he’d get pissed at me but I’m sure he won’t kill me.”
Daisuke nodded along. “Aye. And, the Boss’ fond of me, so I’ll just make sure Cora-san will be fine. This is a blind spot for the pirates, so stay still. Okay, Law?” They were both directly lying to Law, but it was the only option.
Daisuke couldn’t fit in one of the boxes, and he’d have a better chance at surviving an attack against one of Doffy’s men than Law.
Law smiled brightly as Corazon placed his hand on top of his hat. “Calm.”
“This will cause anything you interact with to not make any noise,” Corazon explained as Law tapped against the side of the box with his palms, and of course, there wasn’t a sound, “alright, Daiko and I will see you in the next town.”
Law smiled at the nonexistent sounds he made. “Oi, Law, Daiko,” Corazon said, grabbing the boys’s attention. As Law looked up, his face formed into one of shock at Corazon’s goofy smile. As Daisuke looked over, he began laughing again. “I love you two!”
As he slowly closed the box, the last thing Daisuke saw was Law snickering to himself before the lid fully closed.
As Corazon and Daisuke stepped away, Daisuke turned to the tall bird. “You... you know we just lied to his face, right? The Boss is going to be pissed.”
Corazon nodded, placing his large hand on Daisuke’s shoulder. “We just have to buy Law some time. Don’t worry. I promise you I won’t die.” Daisuke sighed, then he nodded with a smile. “Okay. Right.”
The two hid behind a tree, Corazon behind it while Daisuke was perched within its branches, that was by Gladius.
Corazon ran from behind the tree, still bleeding from his many bullet wounds that covered his body. “Oi!”
Gladius was quick to turn around and pull out his gun. “You!” He fired from his gun, Corazon dodging the bullets. As Gladius went to advance, he was stopped by a dagger flying towards his feet.
He paused, his eyes immediately falling to the dagger. But upon closer inspection, it wasn’t a dagger, it was a throwing knife. Daisuke’s throwing knife.
Looking up to the tree, he saw Daisuke looking right back, sticking out his tongue between his two fingers in a vulgar gesture. “Suck it, bastard!”
Gladius sneered, now aiming his gun at Daisuke. Daisuke jumped from the tree, landing on his feet and running after Corazon.
“Corazon and Harbinger went that way!” Diamante called to the others after hearing Gladius’ gunfire, “Lao G! This way!”
“Come on, follow me!” Gladius ordered to Machvise and Diamante. “I’ll crush both of them-in!”
“Where are you aiming at?!” Corazon taunted, smacking his rear end. Daisuke started bawling out in laughter, almost tripping over his own feet. As Gladius shot at the two, Corazon was immediately back on his feet, tailing after Daisuke.
“Corazon! Harbinger-san!” Diamante called to the two, making them look over their shoulders, “Vipera Glaive!” Diamante’s sword began to ripple thanks to the Devil Fruit he ate, and it shot towards Corazon and Daisuke.
However, before the snake-like sword could hit Corazon, Daisuke deflected the wiggling blade with a throwing knife he had in his hand, using it as a dagger.
As the two ran towards the Barrels Pirates’ hideout, Lao G jumped from the roof, startling both as he attempted to punch them.
Corazon jumped back into Trebol as Daisuke dodged to the side, effectively giving the bunny ear-wearing man—Lao G the chance to land a roundhouse kick to Daisuke’s chest.
The kick hit Daisuke’s already injured ribs, making the young boy cry out in pain as blood flew from his mouth and his body rocketed into the brick exterior of the hideout.
Daisuke’s knife escaped from his hand, the black-steel blade getting lost in the piling snow.
“DAIKO!” Corazon cried, but was stopped by Trebol’s sickly laugh.
“Corazon!”
Corazon looked behind him with wide eyes as Trebol laughed again, raising his finger to produce his sticky, flammable mucus. Yes, he ate that Devil Fruit. The one Daisuke always thought was disgusting, the Beta Beta no Mi.
“Sticky Launcher!” Small light blue-coloured balls of mucus flung towards Corazon, exploding once they made contact with his body. The blonde’s body hit the wall behind him, dealing a good deal of damage to his back.
“Cora-san!” Daisuke grunted out worriedly, trying to get to his feet whilst holding his ribs, yet Lao G was there to stop him again.
Lao G let out a cry as he went to punch Daisuke, only for Daisuke to use his smaller kid size to slide under the older man’s legs. Once he was behind Lao G, he slashed at the karate master man’s back with another knife he quickly pulled from his pocket.
As Corazon attempted to confront Diamante, Trebol, and Machvise, a hand materialised from the wall, grabbing Corazon’s body and crushing it. “I got you!” Pica’s unnaturally high voice barked as his head also materialised from the wall.
Corazon’s screams of pain made Daisuke’s eyes widened. “Cora-san! Let go of him, you bastard!” He ran towards Pica with his knife at the ready.
“Diamante!” Pica called, completely disregarding Daisuke as he tossed Corazon’s body to Diamante, making Daisuke stop in his tracks.
“Oh yeah!” Diamante cheered on as he pulled out a red ribbon, using his Devil Fruit abilities to make it harden into a bat that he then used on Corazon, smacking him square in the gut.
His body rolled around in the snow before coming to a halt. Daisuke rushed towards Corazon, kneeling by his side as Pica came out of the wall, his body going back go its regular fleshy self.
“Oi, Cora-san! You’re okay, right?!” Daisuke asked worriedly as Corazon forcefully rolled himself onto his back.
He then laughed. “Ouch... I’m alright, Daiko.” He said with pain heavy in his voice. He then turned his head, Daisuke following his gaze to see Diamante, Machvise, Gladius, Lao G, Trebol, and Pica.
Machvise, Trebol, and Diamante all darkly chuckled at Corazon’s and Daisuke’s suffering while Pica, Gladius, and Lao G scowled at them.
In response, Corazon chuckled warmly. Gladius kicked Corazon in the gut with his black heeled boot, making Corazon cry out in pain again. “You jerk! Why have you been pretending that you can’t talk?!”
Corazon rolled to the side before laying back on his back, holding his badly wounded stomach. Daisuke, with blood trailing down his chin and neck, glared daggers at Gladius.
“Because I got nothing to talk about... with you fools.” He paused in the middle of his sentence, his voice breaking. His answer only made Gladius kick him again.
“How dare you make a fool of the Young Master! It’s unforgivable! I won’t forgive you!” Gladius raged as he began to continuously kick Corazon.
“Stop! You’ll kill him!” Daisuke begged, biting his tongue to prevent himself from crying. Gladius didn’t listen however as he continued to kick and stomp on Corazon.
In a rage, Daisuke’s hand subconsciously activated his attack. “I said stop! Faiyāsurasshu!”
Wide eyes came from the Family as Daisuke lunged towards Gladius, only for him to get shot in the leg by the said man. Daisuke’s eyes widened as his hand extinguished, falling to the floor and rolling around in sheer pain from his wounded leg.
“That’s too much, Gladius! Harbinger-san is right, he’ll die before the Young Master gets here.” Lao G spoke up.
Trebol laughed as he approached Naon and Corazon, using his abilities to form a mucus puddle that rapped around Corazon like an anaconda.
“It’s no problem!” Trebol said, picking Corazon up. Daisuke tried to attack him, but he was held back by Diamante grabbing his arm—squeezing almost as tight as to break the bone—and his heavily injured leg.
Daisuke didn’t cry out however. He knew Law could hear them, and he wouldn’t let Law know he was in pain. So, he whimpered painfully, falling to his knees as Diamante’s grip made him drop his knife.
“He was trying to force an all-out war between us and the Navy today!” Trebol continued, making Corazon smirk cockily. Trebol’s mucus snake squeezed tighter around Corazon, making him grunt in pain as Trebol leaned in, “What a sinful bastard!”
He threw Corazon’s body away, making it hit against the treasure boxes, making the contents inside crash around. Daisuke had to bite down hard on his tongue again, almost biting it off so he wouldn’t cry out for Law and jeopardise the boy’s safety.
Diamante then lifted up Daisuke’s body by the wrist, forcing the boy to look at him. “Let us not forget about you, Harbinger-san. The Young Master saved your life and gave you a chance to live. And this is how you repay him? By going behind his back and lying about being a Devil Fruit User all this time?!”
Daisuke’s right eye was shut tight as his lips formed into a smirk, blood dripping from his mouth as he spoke adding to the pool of blood formed from his leg, “The Boss didn’t save my life. Cora-san did. So you know what? Go to hell.” Daisuke cursed, spitting blood in Diamante’s face.
Diamante scowled in fury, his hand tightening around Daisuke’s wrist to a point where a “snap” was heard. It only took Daisuke a second to render what happened before he yelled out in agony at the pain from his now-broken wrist.
“Stupid punk.” Diamante growled as he tossed Daisuke’s body away with a powerful hit to the ribs from his bat, effectively breaking more of them.
Daisuke’s body skidded to a halt besides Corazon’s, his head in the snow. “Daiko? Oi, Daiko!” Corazon barked, but got no response from Daisuke as he coughed, a lot more blood secreting from his lungs.
“Oi! The Young Master’s here!” Gladius said to the others. Corazon watched with his reddish-brown eyes as Doflamingo advanced, Daisuke finally lifting his head up.
He then reached into his coat’s pocket, pulling out a cigarette and placing it in his mouth.
Gladius stepped over to Machvise to allow Doflamingo to get closer. Corazon lit the cigarette, relaxing as he took a deep breath. However, he felt a surge in his chest, making him fall into a coughing fit that had small, little puffs of grey smoke added to it.
“It’s been six months...” Doflamingo began, stepping in front of Corazon, Daisuke, and Law, who was still silently locked in the treasure box, “Corazon.”
Doflamingo stared Corazon down, an angered scowl clearly present on his face. Corazon glared back, his right eye tightly shut to avoid the blood coming from his temple to enter it as his breathing was laboured and panting.
Corazon reached into his coat again, the action making the other members of Doflamingo’s family brace themselves.
“Young Master—” Machvise warned, but Doflamingo held his arm out, silently telling them to back down.
Corazon smiled to himself, seeming to be remembering something as he pulled out a gun, aiming it at Doflamingo whilst slowly pulling the pick back.
Daisuke’s eyes widened as he saw what Corazon planned to do. He... he can’t pull that trigger... he isn’t like Doflamingo...
“Marine Code 01746. Commander Rosinante of the Navy Headquarters,” Corazon “introduced,” still making eye contact with Doflamingo.
“Donquixote Family, captain, Doflamingo. I have been undercover to prevent a future tragedy of your doing. I am a Navy soldier!”
He then banged his head against the box Law was in, making tears form in the corner of Daisuke’s eyes.
He wouldn’t... he isn’t going to sacrifice himself...
“I’m sorry that I lied to you... I lied because I didn’t want you to hate me.” Corazon said, knowing he wouldn’t get an audible answer from Law.
From inside the box, Law’s eyes widened in fear, Why are you bringing it up now?! Law cried in his head, knowing his voice would fail him, I already... he shut his eyes tight, knew it!
“You fool!” Gladius barked, ruining the moment as he accusingly pointed at Corazon, unaware that he was talking to Law and not Doflamingo, “Do you think it’ll help you to apologise now?!”
“Stop telling those insipid jokes and answer these two questions! Where’s the Ope Ope no Mi?! Where’s Law?!” Doflamingo ordered.
His words made Daisuke chuckle painfully. “The Devil Fruit’s gone,” he huffed, a smile dawning his face, “he made Law eat it.”
“Daiko’s right. Law’s a Devil Fruit User now! He managed to get out of the cage! I bet he’s been taken into protective custody by a look-out ship from the Navy HQ by now. You can’t touch him now!” Corazon lied directly into Doflamingo’s face with a smile.
Doflamingo’s veins bulged as he grinded his teeth together. It was obvious that he was about to lash out when suddenly...
“Young Master-sama!” Buffalo cried, hovering above the cage with Baby-5 on his back. Doflamingo looked up, “We heard the Navy said on the radio earlier they took a boy under their care!” Baby-5 yelled.
Doflamingo turned to them. “Why didn’t you report that sooner?!”
“I rushed here even if I don't look like it-dasuyan!” Buffalo said. “I’m sorry!” Baby-5 apologised.
Corazon and Daisuke shared a confused look, both having the same thought. A boy? What a strange coincidence! Law is in the chest, not on some Navy boat.
“Check into that quickly! I’ll undo the Birdcage!” Doflamingo ordered. Corazon looked back at Doflamingo as Daisuke smiled.
This is an unbelievably great coincidence! Corazon thought as his features then formed into a smile as well, As I thought, Law, something compels you to stay alive, surprisingly a lot like Daiko.
He relaxed, closing his eyes, saviours keep descending upon you one after another.
Doflamingo ordered his crew around. “Prepare to set sail! If what they said was true, we’ll sink the Navy’s look-out ship and get Law back!”
His crew nodded as they ran off do to as told. “Don’t,” Corazon said, looking down, “why would you wanna go after Law?”
Doflamingo turned around to face him, the red suit he was wearing made his sunglasses pop out even more than they normally did.
“Why would I want to go after Law?” He repeated as he fully faced Corazon again. “If he ate the Ope Ope no Mi, he needs to be educated in order to die for me!”
Daisuke’s eyes widened as he attempted to lunge at Doflamingo, but the pain in his ribs forced him to fall back onto the snow. “You wouldn’t dare, Doflamingo!” He hissed, the first time ever calling Doflamingo by his name instead of “Boss.”
Doflamingo simply chuckled as he reached for something within his suit. “Boy... the two of you’ve done tons of unnecessary things!”
He pulled out a gun that had golden accents, “Why do you both wanna get in my way?! Why do I have to kill another member of my biological family?!”
The box Corazon was leaning against, the one containing Law, was moving vigorously. Law was beating against it, obviously worried.
Corazon and Doflamingo were aiming at each other, neither daring to pull the trigger yet. “I know you can’t shoot me... you’re so much like your father!” Doflamingo taunted.
Law kept beating against the box, but deep down he knew it would be no use. This isn’t what you two told me, Cora-san! Daiko-ya! You said he wouldn’t kill you!
“Law won’t obey you! Doffy... affected by the White Lead Syndrome,” Corazon slowly began to try to sit up, making Daisuke’s heart began to throb in fear, “he was doomed to die in three years. But he got over it.”
Corazon was standing now, the bloodstained snow crunching under his feet as he wobbled in his place. “He’s not the same Law... who lost track of himself and came to visit a crazy pirate that day. Daiko isn’t the same either. He’s gotten stronger with a power not even you would understand! There is nothing they can gain from you since you’re like a child of destruction! Leave them alone now! They are free!”
Law froze and began crying. Suddenly, memories began to flood back into his mind. The time when Corazon attempted to punch a doctor whilst having Daisuke and Law hold him back, the time Corazon tripped and was on fire at the same time (to which Daisuke scolded him for later), and the time Corazon smiled as he joked about Law having a quiet rest because he used his Nagi Nagi no Mi powers to silence the night. But now...
That was all gone. Everything was gone.
Daisuke froze in his spot as he looked at Corazon, tears now falling from his eyes. Doflamingo suddenly went to pull the trigger, yet Daisuke sprung to his feet, jumping in front of Corazon before the bullet hit.
It all seemed like slow motion for Corazon. Daisuke, now suddenly in his dragon form, had jumped in the way of a bullet for him.
The bullet from Doflamingo’s gun flew straight into his left eye, making his body begin to fly backwards as he was forced back into his human form, blood waterfalling from his eye.
His body then hit the ground, blood profusely spilling from his face onto the snow, staining it a dark red.
Corazon didn’t have time to react as Daisuke’s body fell limp, his breathing immediately slowing. Then, Doflamingo fired six more shots, each one piercing through Corazon’s body.
Daisuke weakly opened his right eye because of the repeated sounds of gunfire. As he turned his head to the side, his eye widened as Corazon’s body smacked against the chests, disrupting their placement.
Daisuke wanted to move. He wanted to scream. He wanted to fight. But he couldn’t. A set of regular and bloody tears came from his eyes as they shut, the pain being too much to handle anymore.
────𖤐────
The rest of the Family came back so they could load up the boat with their treasure, tossing around Daisuke and Corazon’s bodies in the process to make room.
As they were leaving, Law lifted up the lid of chest to see if Daisuke and Corazon were okay, only to see them lying in the snow, not moving.
He was about to move when he remembered Corazon’s words to himself and Daisuke, I love you two!
So, to honour him, Law regrettably closed the chest.
Once he got forcibly set down again, he was able to escape because Tsuru from the Navy had began attacking Doflamingo and his crew.
His cries were silent at first, but suddenly he could hear himself bawling, which only made things worse. Because there was only one way he could hear himself after Corazon’s spell and that was if...
Corazon was dead.
────𖤐────
Tears were falling out of Daisuke’s right eye, the left had blood streaming down it as he was panicking.
Corazon laid on the ground, ridden with bullet holes and dying. Law was nowhere to be seen, and Daisuke’s body was close to collapsing from his wounds.
“C-Cora-san, please! Please, don’t die... I-I need you, Cora-san! Law needs you! Please! You promised you wouldn’t die!” Daisuke begged, placing his hands on Corazon’s chest.
Corazon painfully chuckled. His blood stained the snow, and the falling flakes were beginning to cover his body. He weakly brought his hand to Daisuke’s left cheek, brushing his thumb across it.
“I-I’m sorry, Daiko... I know I promised that we would see the w-world together but I—” he was cut off by his coughing.
Blood trailed down the corner of his mouth, but his smile never faded. “C-Can you promise to look out for Law? The both of you... l-lost so much... h-he needs you, Naon. And you need him.”
“S-Stop talking like that Cora-san, you’re going to be fine! Y-You’re going to be f-fine...” Daisuke’s voice trailed as his tears fell onto Corazon.
Corazon’s smile only seemed to get bigger. “Don’t ever forget my smile, o-okay? Remember that night... when you told me of the stars?”
Daisuke nodded, his sobbing forming into weak whimpers. “Yeah... I-I do...”
“You said I would be-become the brightest of them all. I-If you still believe that then... w-when you’re ever sad, just look to the brightest star up there. And you’ll see me smiling back to you, and you’ll know everything’ll be okay.” Corazon dropped his hand from Daisuke’s cheek as he let out a sharp, pained breath.
“Protect Law. M-My spell won’t last forever on him. Promise me... promise me you’ll take care of him. Y-You’ll take care of yourself.” Corazon was struggling now.
“I.... I-I.... I promise C-Cora-san...” Daisuke stuttered out, feeling his heart sink. Corazon laughed painfully as his reddish-brown eyes began to dull and slowly close. “I-I love you, Daiko... I love you, Law...”
His eyes closed and he stopped breathing. His smile was still on his face, never to fade. He was deathly pale, and Daisuke had a sickening feeling in his gut.
“Cora...-san...?” Daisuke trailed as he lightly shook Corazon’s body, yet there was no reaction. “O-Oi! C-Cora-san!” Daisuke cried, but there was still nothing.
Then, the situation hit him hard. He began to panic as he continued to shake Corazon. “CORA-SAN! GET UP, PLEASE! CORA-SAN! YOU PROMISED YOU WOULDN’T DIE! YOU PROMISED!”
Daisuke buried his head into Corazon’s chest, letting all of his tears out. He wrapped his arms to cover his head, no longer caring about the pain his body felt from the wounds or the cold he now felt from the snow. He just sat there, crying.
The only other person who cared for him again after his parents was now dead. Anyone who seemed to even think about caring for Daisuke just ends up getting hurt.
Why do I have to be cursed?
Picking his head up after what seemed like hours, he gave Corazon the best smile he could manage. “I... I promise, Cora-san. I won’t let anything happen to Law. I.... I love you, too.”
With a heavy heart, Daisuke shakily stood up despite his mortal injures. He closed his one good remaining eye and focused on Law.
He made a promise to Cora-san, and he won’t die until he fulfills it. Sensing Law’s presence with his weak Haki level, Daisuke opened his eye. He slowly made his way to where he sensed Law, limping as he did so.
As he neared the entrance to the forest that surrounded the hideout where Cora-san found the Ope Ope no Mi, Daisuke looked over his shoulder one last time. “G-Goodbye, Cora-san.”
With that, he turned into his dragon form to save as much energy as he could as he ran off to find Law.
Goodbye, Daisuke...