"Chop Chop – Act Cutter."
As the name implied, it was Buggy's final move, the culmination of everything he'd learned about his fruit since discovering the "externalized cutting" aspect of his powers.
Where his usual Chop Chop slashes relied on proximity and precision, this one was a wide, focused projection of all that energy. It was the difference between a thrown dagger and a guillotine falling from the heavens.
Buggy's cutting ability worked on a deceptively simple principle: it drew directly from the reserves of energy within him, stamina, vitality, even willpower. All of it was funneled into the motion of his limbs, letting him extend his cutting power through touch, into pure intent.
The first time he'd used it had been back in Alabasta. He'd nearly collapsed afterward, drained of every drop of energy, but the results had been undeniable: a palace reduced to rubble.
And now, once again, he was pouring everything into that same move.
This time, aimed at one of the most dangerous men in the world. A man comparable to the strongest in some of the Yonko crews around the world... A figure that should've been untouchable to anyone in Paradise.
Buggy's grin twisted as his floating hand hovered inches from Doflamingo's arm.'Let's see you laugh this one off, pinkie.'
"Chop Chop - Act Cutter!"
Buggy's will-power enhanced slash, met Doflamingo's haki-clad body.
The cut moved faster than sound, slicing through the air in a sharp, spiraling wave that crashed straight into Doflamingo's side.
For a heartbeat, silence. Then blood.
A deep crimson line ran from Doflamingo's right arm all the way up to his left shoulder, cutting diagonally through his pink coat.
The Warlord's laughter died in his throat. He stared down at the wound, shallow but real. The kind of injury he hadn't suffered in years.
Buggy's hand, trembling midair, twitched once before falling limp. His body reassembled, wobbling, eyes half-lidded and gasping. "Tch... even that wasn't enough..."
Doflamingo flexed his fingers, blood trickling down. The faint hum of Haki still pulsed along his skin. His defense had held strong, but even so, Buggy was able to penetrate it.
"Fuffuffuffu..." His grin was wild now, more predator than man. "You actually cut me. I'll admit, that takes some nerve."
He kicked out suddenly. Buggy's floating hand was sent flying into the mast, snapping wood like paper.
Then he seemed to almost vanish from sight, appearing right above the tired Buggy. His foot came down.
The blow struck Buggy's head with terrifying precision, the deck shattering beneath it.
The clown's eyes rolled back, his tongue lolling. Some of his body parts flew off and spun across the planks.
"Captain!" Mohji screamed, but the words drowned under the groaning wood.
Buggy was out cold.
Doflamingo loomed over him, one arm dripping red. The other rose to finish the job.
Then, a roar.
Urouge charged through the lingering haze of smoke, his giant frame surging forward, skin cracking with Haki. The monk's fist came down like a hammer from the heavens.
It smashed into Doflamingo's head with enough force to crater the deck. Blood streamed from the warlord's nose, and his trademark sunglasses shattered, the lenses scattering like broken ice.
For an instant, Urouge thought it worked.
Then the heel of Doflamingo's boot met his chest.
The kick sent Urouge flying backward, splintering the mainmast clean in two. He coughed up blood midair before crashing through a pile of crates.
"Persistent pests," Doflamingo muttered, flicking strands of blood from his fingertips.
But the brief opening was enough.
Mohji stumbled forward, running towards Doflamingo and trying to touch him, only to immediately lose control of his body as the warlord's strings clamped on his form.
Cabaji had tried to attack the warlord as well, meeting the same fate, becoming a marionette on strings as the warlord just laughed and started manipulating them to fight each other.
Eventually, he got bored of making them injure each other, and he acted himself.
Doflamingo's hand lashed out, and invisible wires swept across the deck, cutting both Mohji and Cabaji down in one motion. They hit the planks hard, twitching but alive.
He took a step forward and staggered.
The wound Buggy had left flared up again, the cut was deeper than it had seemed at first. The bleeding worsened, staining his pink coat dark red.
Doflamingo clicked his tongue and extended his fingers. Tiny threads shot from them, stitching the gash closed with frightening precision. Within seconds, he had sealed his own wound.
"Who would've thought I'd actually get injured in Paradise..." he muttered to himself, flexing his shoulder.
He turned his gaze back to Buggy's limp form. "You're far too troublesome to be left alive, clown. I'll make an example out of you."
He raised his leg again, Haki coating his shin in obsidian black.
The kick never landed.
A massive hand clamped around his ankle like an iron vise.
Urouge was back on his feet, blood dripping from every cut, his skin glowing faintly with a golden hue as his body continued to bulk up from the pain. His breath came out in low, furious bursts.
"That's enough," he growled.
"Still standing?" Doflamingo smirked. "You circus freaks are tenacious."
Urouge's eyes met his, steady and burning. "You wanted us to join you, didn't you? Is that offer still on the table?"
The statement caught Doflamingo off guard. "Hm?"
Around them, the Big Top was chaos. Smoke, blood, and broken timber filled the deck. Cabaji and Mohji lay sprawled out, barely conscious. The other crewmates were nowhere near the fight, either unconscious or hiding below deck.
Urouge knew he couldn't win. Not like this. Not now.
But he could still make sure they lived.
"If the price of survival is pride…" he said quietly, tightening his grip on Doflamingo's leg, "then I'll pay it."
His mind raced through the chaos, flashes of Buggy laughing at his own jokes, of Mohji bragging about his "ferocious lion," of Cabaji sharpening his swords while humming circus tunes.
'We can live to repay this humiliation,' he thought bitterly. 'Give us a few months, and it'll be this feathered bastard lying in the dirt.'
Doflamingo tilted his head, reading the desperation in the monk's eyes. The tension eased from his leg, but his smirk only widened.
"You're an interesting one," he said. "Most men die before they think to beg."
He flicked his bleeding arm. Threads wove in the air, tightening around the wound again, but this time, the strings stretched down, forming a single razor-thin line across Urouge's forearm.
"And you all have proved capable... If you want your captain to live…" Doflamingo's voice dropped low, "I'll take something as collateral."
Urouge stared at the glimmering thread. "What do you mean?"
"Simple," Doflamingo replied, eyes gleaming. "You get to keep your lives. But your arm, the one that stopped me twice, comes with me. I'll take one of the clown's arms too, as a keepsake~"
The air grew heavy. Even Doflamingo's laughter had quieted into something almost reverent.
He was establishing dominance, a hierarchy that could only be set with blood.
The only sound was the creaking of the half-sunk deck and the distant hiss of burning ropes.
Urouge didn't respond. His fingers flexed, his knuckles cracking. His massive form trembled once, not from fear, but restraint.
His gaze moved to Buggy, unconscious but still breathing. Then to the others.
He closed his eyes. "If that's the price..."
'Better than dying... I swear that I will one day wipe that smirk off his face...'
Doflamingo smiled faintly, his glasses gone, his eyes visible now, cold, unreadable. "Then it's a deal."
The strings tightened.
The screen of fog and splintered sails fluttered gently in the sea breeze.
The world went quiet again, save for the faint sound of Doflamingo's laughter echoing across the waves.
And then, a single wet snap.