The mountains shuddered, loosing boulders that thundered down the cliffs into the valley and threw up a dust cloud that blotted out the sky.
Hearing the racket, Queen hunched in his laboratory, flattening his round body against the wall. He risked a look through the window toward the distant ridges, cold sweat beading on his brow.
"Boss Kaido's really lost it this time… wonder who's on the receiving end?"
After a beat, a sly grin spread across his face.
"Not my problem, though…"
Muhahaha. Lucky I bolted when I did.
He lit a cigar, tucked a napkin into his collar, and sat down to savor a fresh bowl of red bean soup.
---
Inside the cave, sunlight knifed through cracks in the rock, turning the drifting dust into gold. Kaido loomed there, panting, eyes fixed on the tear-streaked little girl before him. Her sorry state cooled the urge to punish her further.
Yamato sat on the floor, several smoking bumps swelling on her head and a bandage stuck to her nose. She hugged a glossy magazine to her chest, mouth screwed into a stubborn pout.
"Give me that," Kaido growled through his teeth.
"No!" Despite the drubbing she'd taken, she lifted her chubby face with fierce pride, cheeks puffed. "This is Mr. Darren's magazine! It's a rare collector's edition I worked so hard to get! He's the handsomest and strongest man on the whole sea! My idol!"
"I'm not giving it to you!" Barely three years old, she was somehow both intimidating and irresistibly cute; the tiny red horns on her head twitched with outrage.
Veins throbbed in Kaido's forehead. Two pirates at the wall shifted, swallowing hard.
"A pin-up? Where did this even come from?!" Unable to vent his fury on his own daughter, Kaido rounded on the trembling pair and roared, "Explain yourselves!"
They crashed to their knees. "Lord Kaido, we're sorry!" one blurted. "The Young Master said she'd kill herself if we refused. We had no choice—we told the merchants to import it from overseas…"
Kaido's rage froze, then flared hotter. He knew that magazine.
Rogers Darren was no longer the green Marine recruit from the North Blue he'd once met. After the blitz against Totto Land and the fall of the Golden Lion, his name had traveled the Grand Line. "King of the North Blue" to the pirates who feared him; an idol to legions of Marines.
Strength unmatched, exploits legendary, looks and charisma undeniable—Darren had become the dream of countless noblewomen, ladies, wives, girls, and princesses. Men wanted to be him; women wanted to be with him.
The frenzy fed a booming fan economy. Newspapers, agencies, and merchants smelled blood in the water and swarmed, flooding the market with Darren merchandise and raking in profits. The full-color poster Yamato clutched was one more bite of that hook.
"I posted you here to guard her, not enable this obsession!" Kaido bellowed, eyes bloodshot. Purple lightning crawled over his kanabo as he advanced.
"Lord Kaido, we were wrong!"
"Please have mercy!" They trembled and kowtowed, cold sweat soaking their backs.
"If you're going to hit someone, hit me! Don't hurt them! It was my idea!" Barefoot, Yamato darted between them and her father, small hands spread wide, courage blazing on her face.
Kaido stared at her, his anger faltering. Father and daughter—both with demon horns—met forehead to forehead, stubborn wills locked. Neither yielded.
The two pirates lay flat, scarcely daring to breathe.
After a long moment, Kaido lowered the kanabo with a slow breath.
He looked down at his unbowed daughter and, despite himself, grinned.
"As expected of my blood… that courage, that spirit…"
"Worororororo!"
His laughter boomed like thunder under the earth, shaking dirt from the cave roof. Pride and indulgence shone openly in his eyes.
When he'd had his fill, Kaido dropped heavily to the ground.
"Yamato, you're still young. There's a lot you don't understand."
He uncorked a flask at his waist and took a long pull.
"Darren isn't worthy of your admiration. He's a sly, treacherous brat."
"Compared to that sneaking coward, your father is a true hero."
He thrust out his chest, smugness gleaming as he eyed his treasure of a daughter.
"That's not true!" Yamato shot back, aghast.
"What do you mean, not true?!" Kaido roared. "You saw it yourself last time—your old man beat him to a pulp!"
Yamato's cheeks flamed. "That was because Mr. Darren was still young! Give him a few years and he'll knock your teeth out!"
Kaido: …
He clutched his chest, fighting for breath. My own daughter—cheering for me to get my face caved in?!
"Your Pops has an Indestructible Body!" he snarled. "Who's knocking my teeth out?!"
"Mr. Darren has an Indestructible Body too!" Yamato declared, chin up.
Pfft!
Kaido choked on sake. That brat's "Indestructible Body"? I taught him that! …Wait—did I? I didn't! And he still learned it! Damn it! Did I teach him or not?!
"Either way, he'll never beat your old man," he growled, fist tightening. He refused to lose face in front of his girl.
Yamato lifted her fingers, ticking off points, eyes shining.
"Mr. Darren destroyed our main base."
Kaido: …
"He slipped into Wano like it was nothing."
…
"And he took down Golden Lion Shiki—the guy even you couldn't beat!"
Kaido's face contorted. Damn that Shiki.
...
As her "examples" piled up, Kaido flushed crimson, then purple. At last, through his teeth: "So what?! You're my daughter! You can't become a Marine!"
Yamato froze, eyes filling. "B-but… I don't care! I don't want to be a pirate! I want to be a Marine!" She pumped her tiny fists. "I want all pirates to die!"
A vein throbbed in Kaido's temple. "You're destined to be a pirate for life!" He slammed his fist into the floor and leaned in, bloodshot stare boring into hers. "Even if I let you sail, the Marines would never take you!"
Color burning in her cheeks, Yamato pounded the stone with her small fists. She pressed her smooth forehead to his, stubbornness flaring. "Then I'll grow up and marry Mr. Darren!" she shouted. "I'll be his wife!"
Kaido went still, as if struck by lightning. Checkmate.
Darren's insufferably smug face flashed through his mind, followed by that damned line: Kaido-sensei, I'll take good care of Yamato for you.
Pfft!
He suddenly spat blood, making Yamato jump.
As the two pirates gaped, Kaido lurched to his feet, eyes glassy, and staggered out of the cave. His retreating back looked oddly desolate.
"Lord Kaido, are you alright?"
"Ugh…"
A few seconds later—
"QUEEN!! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
The roar split the sky outside, thunder on thunder.
The two pirates flinched.
"Yeah, he's fine."
"Y-yes. Of course."
—
Meanwhile, in the laboratory—
Queen, midway through a blissful slurp of sweet red bean soup, froze at the bellow. His face drained of color.
"I'm doomed…" he whimpered, despair twisting his features.
To be continued...