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The Warlords’ attendance is horrendous. When the meeting does not threaten their title, most of them don’t even bother to show up.
So when all seven Warlords were present when Sengoku returned to the meeting room, he just stood in the doorway in disbelief and shock.
“A miracle…”
Someone could have told him that all four Emperors were joining hands and he’d believe that over what he was witnessing.
Still in shock, Sengoku walked over to the round table and took his seat, joining Garp, Tsuru, and the Warlords with the exception of Doflamingo who was sitting in the middle of the table.
“Fufufu, it looks like we’re all here for a change!” Doflamingo said once Sengoku took his seat. “Typically, it’s only Kuma, Jinbe, and me. What’s the occasion?”
“Hmph… an old hag wouldn’t stop bothering me to come here,” Hancock answered with folded arms across her chest. “I would love to be anywhere but surrounded by despicable people like you.”
Her icy glare extended from Doflamingo to the other Warlords and then the marines around the table.
“Don’t make me regret showing up, Hancock,” Moria spoke up. “It was a lot of effort just getting here.”
“Moria and I were already nearby in our boats so we decided to kill time here,” Mihawk chimed in.
“Don’t tell them that, Hawk-Eyes!”
“I’m only explaining why I show up.”
“Why’d you have to include me then?! Leave me out of it!”
“ ‘A lot of effort’ indeed,” Jinbe commented, dryly. “I’m assuming Crocodile also had nothing to do today.”
Crocodile took a long drag of his cigar before responding. “Surprisingly, I had no business to attend to,” he confirmed with a smirk.
“Hey, hey, it’s important for us Warlords to keep up appearances.” Doflamingo had a wide, mocking smile on his face. “Fleet Admiral, don’t you feel they’re unfit to be a Warlord? How about we replace them with people that can actually carry out their duties?”
The flamingo looked over serial absentees. “We clearly don’t need people like you four.”
It was a taunt. An obvious one at that but only Mihawk remained stoic.
“Who do you think you’re talking to?!”
“Flamingo bastard! Do you have a death wish today?!”
“You only show up to meetings to stir up trouble, Doflamingo!”
“Settle down you three,” Tsuru called out but the three Warlords continued to throw insults and threats at the pink-feathered man. She eyed Doflamingo with a stern look. “Doflamingo. Refrain from provoking others.”
“My apologies, Tsuru but I was only speaking the truth. We need devoted people as Warlords. Hawk Eyes is an exception but as for the other three…” There was a slight pause before he spoke again, his smile widening. “I’m certain we don’t need those low-rate pirates.”
As soon as he finished his sentence, Crocodile’s cigar snapped in half. Crocodile and Hancock shot up from their seats with a snarl, their faces twisting in rage. Moria seems to be enraged as well but remains seated, opting to shoot a glare full of hatred toward Doflamingo.
“Damned bird!” Crocodile growled. “The only one here that needs replacing is you .”
“A low-rate pirate?! How dare you say that!” Hancock jumped onto the table and began looking down at Doflamingo so much that she was looking straight up at the ceiling. Her pointer extended at the flamingo. “Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness right now or I’ll turn you to stone!”
“Keep his body intact! I’d like to use his corpse as part of my army,” Moria called out.
“Fufufu! Are you three trying to pick a fight with me?”
“Stop it,” Kuma suddenly spoke up. “We don’t need this room to be destroyed.”
Jinbei sighed. “It’s impossible to break them up when they’re like this. Just let them be, Kuma.”
Mihawk quietly took a sip from his wine glass that he pulled from his hat, watching the Warlords bicker on.
By now, Sengoku had recovered from his shock. Kuma and Doflamingo are the two who attend meetings regularly though he would like it if the latter were more absent. Jinbei would show up periodically from time to time. Aside from these three, the other Warlords were practically not here. Sengoku could count how many times they were present on his hands—maybe even one hand.
In any case, this is a great opportunity. He’d use this to go over current news and information and get everything covered in one go.
Garp seems to have a different idea. “We should celebrate this,” he said to Sengoku. “How about we get some food on the table?”
“Celebrate?! We need to use this chance to go over important matters!”
“Right, right.” Garp didn’t seem all that interested in the well-being of the world as he shoved a rice cracker in his mouth.
“By the way, Sengoku.” Kuma pointed toward the middle of the table. “What is that?”
Next to Doflamingo was some small metal box. Sengoku wasn’t sure what it was or how it got here since it wasn’t there before. Naturally, his eyes land on Doflamingo, accusingly.
“Doflamingo, what did you bring in?”
Doflamingo turned his attention to Sengoku, not bothered by Crocodile and Hancock who were still cursing him out.
“I’m a little hurt, Fleet Admiral. Why am I the first to be accused? This was here before I even got here. I just assumed it was what we were going to talk about today.”
Sengoku’s scowled even deeper. The only people who arrived before Doflamingo were Garp, Tsuru, and himself. He highly doubted those two would bring something into the meeting without any notice.
“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” Hancock shouted out. She began to storm over to Doflamingo.
“Hancock!” Tsuru called out but it was too late. The Snake Princess’s leg shot forward. Doflamingo must have anticipated this happening since he reacted instantly, blocking the attack with his forearm.
Moria and Crocodile uttered a quiet ‘damn it’ when Hancock’s leg failed to connect to Doflamingo’s face. If it had, their respect for her would have shot through the roof.
“I’ll back you up if that bird tries anything funny, snake!”
“You can do it, Hancock! Kick his ass!”
Kuma was about to stand up to intervene when Jinbei touched his side and shook his head. It was impossible just like Jinbei said, considering the nature of the other Warlords. Mihawk poured himself another cup of wine, clearly enjoying himself despite the impassive look on his face.
“I don’t need words of encouragement from you two!” Hancock scoffed but it only made the two cheer even louder.
“The more Warlords present, the more trouble it is…” Tsuru shook her head disapprovingly but didn't move from her seat to intervene.
Hancock and Doflamingo were trying to overcome the other by strength alone. After a few seconds, it was clear that none of them were going to let up.
“Alright, that’s enough!” Sengoku stood up from his chair and slammed his hands down on the table, shutting the two cheerleaders up. “And Doflamingo! Hancock! Both of you, stop it!”
The table under Doflamingo and Hancock suddenly cracks, unable to withstand the pressure any longer. It caved in right under them which caused the two Warlords to lose their balance and fall with it.
“You’d have to fix that before the next meeting, Sengoku,” Tsuru told him. “Out of your pocket, of course.”
“Why me?! I wasn’t the one that broke the table!”
Garp laughed, seeing how ridiculous the large round table was with a hole in the middle. Through the laughter, there was this strange noise in the room.
Tsuru’s eyes narrowed. “Garp, be quiet for a second.”
Sure enough, there is this steady beeping sound. Everyone’s eyes went to the collapsed hole in the middle of the table.
Doflamingo was standing in the hole with the metal box in his palm, frowning.
“Why is that thing beeping all of a sudden?” Jinbei questioned.
“This beeping sounds familiar…” Mihawk mused. “Hmm… what is it?”
The beeping begins to increase in speed.
“Is… is that a bomb?!” Kuma exclaimed.
“ Bomb !?!” The marines and Warlords (except for Mihawk) repeated in panicked unison.
Mihawk nodded. “Yes. That’s the word I was thinking of.”
“Hey Hancock, catch!”
Doflamingo tossed the metal box at Hancock who inadvertently caught it in her hands. Her eyes widened as soon as she realized her mistake.
“You piece of—“
Hancock didn’t have time to drop down to the floor for cover nor did she have time to run away—though the ones that did only took a step or two before the box activated. Instead of an explosion, the box’s corners extended out and gas came bursting out with a loud hiss.
Fortunately, it wasn’t an explosive bomb so none of them were in any danger of blowing up. Hancock tossed the box up in the air and then kicked it in a random direction. It nearly hit Jinbei before shooting through the wall, leaving a hole in the outside.
Unfortunately, though, the room was already filled with this unknown gas.
“Is this just smoke?!” Moria screeched. “Or some kind of poisonous gas!?”
“Whatever it is, it’s nothing good to breathe in!” Jinbei called out.
Everyone in the room was coughing, covering their mouth and nose.
“Doflamingo!” Sengoku roared. “This better not be one of your pranks.”
“I was telling the truth! I promise that—ah?! Ahhh !?!?”
Doflamingo’s voice sounded strange. But then again, all Sengoku could hear was fits of cough all around the room.
Garp had this great idea of opening the door. He knocked the door right off the hinges with a single punch, a door that was unlocked from the beginning. It was a good thing that this room had a balcony. Otherwise, Sengoku was certain that the knucklehead would punch a big hole in the wall next.
Eventually, the gas cleared out of the room. The three marines stationed nearby came rushing in.
“Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Vice Admiral Garp! Vice Admiral Tsuru!”
“What happened?!”
“What’s all this smoke in the halls?”
“No worries. The gas seems to be harmless.” Garp waved them off dismissively. “Everyone’s fine here, isn’t that right?”
“U-um…” A nervous voice rang out. “Wh-what happened again?”
Sengoku frowned. That sounded like a kid’s voice. He sighed, giving the three marines a disapproving look. “This isn’t a bring your kid to work thing! Which one of you brought a kid here?”
The three marines exchanged confused looks.
“We… don’t have any kids, sir.”
There was an awkward pause until the same voice called out again.
“Over here...”
There was movement at the table and then Kuma’s hat poked out above the table.
“Bartholomew… Kuma?” Sengoku asked, carefully.
A kid that looks just like Kuma peeked out from the table.
“That’s me…” he answered, sheepishly.
The Marines were in shock.
“Are you really Kuma?! What happened?!”
“W-what do you mean? I woke up just now…” The kid claiming to be Kuma stood up on his chair. He was wearing the same exact clothing as the Tyrant yet he looked no older than ten years old.
Before the veteran Marines could say anything else, one of the Marines let out a loud yelp. They look over, Marine A holding onto his leg.
“Kid—why did you kick me? And give that back! It’s dangerous!”
There was another kid, one with a gun pointed directly at Marine A. And this one looks just like Crocodile with the scar, hook, and all.
“C-Crocodile?!” Sengoku stared at the Crocodile kid in increasing bewilderment.
Crocodile glared at those around him as he backed away. “Don’t go near me,” he growled. “I’m not afraid to shoot! Don’t test me!”
“C-calm down, calm down! We don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. Please put that gun down.”
While Marine A pleaded with Crocodile, there was another voice.
“Who are you guys?”
Sengoku placed a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. “Don’t tell me there’s another kid here.”
“Unfortunately, it is,” Tsuru answered him. “It seems like all of the Warlords turned younger…”
Sengoku reluctantly opened his eyes to find a downsized Moria eyeing him suspiciously. Nearby was a younger Mihawk, frowning deeply as he surveyed the room. Jinbei was also there but unlike the other three, he was a lot younger. The child fisherman was wandering around the room, seemingly searching for something.
A very small hand grabbed the edges of the hole in the middle of the table. A toddler Doflamingo climbed onto the table. Shortly, there was the sound of crying. A baby crying to be exact.
“Oh my god… Please someone tell me I'm dreaming,” the Fleet Admiral groaned.
“We must be all sharing the same dream then,” Garp muttered, amazed at what he was witnessing.
Marine B climbed over the table and headed towards the hole in the middle. He leans down, seemingly picking up something. On his way back, he took the toddler Doflamingo in his hands as well.
He put Doflamingo on the ground and then showed the older marines a baby Hancock in his arms.
All the adults stared at Hancock in disbelief.
“...Are these really the Warlords?” Garp reached out and pinched the baby Hancock’s cheek. It started to cry more, earning a hard slap on his hand from Tsuru. Marine B began to rock Hancock in his arms but she still wouldn’t stop brawling, growing louder by the second.
“Give her to me,” Tsuru said, holding out her arms.
The Marine obliged, handing her over.
Tsuru looked down at Hancock with a soft smile. “There, there,” she cooed as she rocked her slowly. The cries gradually came to a stop and the baby looked up at Tsuru with wide, curious eyes before she started giggling.
“The Warlords… they had all de-aged…” Sengoku muttered. “But how…”
His eyes went to the hole in the wall that Hancock made by throwing the metal box out. It must have been the gas that transformed the Warlords. What’s baffling is that it only affected the Warlords.
“Maybe we shaved off a few years because of the gas as well,” Garp suggested. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Is my hair back to black?”
“Just a few years for us won’t have any noticeable changes, Garp!”
“In any case, we need to find a way to revert them back.” Tsuru turned towards Sengoku. “Call the science team and have them come here. They’ll figure out something eventually.”
A smart idea. Sengoku was thankful that Tsuru was here at the meeting with him. He pulled out his Den Den Mushi and dialed the number for the science department. This was bad… He would have never imagined the balance of the world to suddenly tip in one sweep, especially not this way. The Den Den Mushi line connected and he quickly ran through the events to the receiver.
“Aren’t you a pretty little one?” Baby Hancock was trying to reach Tsuru’s face with her little hands. She was well dressed, still wearing the golden snake earrings and the dress that Hancock had on. The heels had disappeared somewhere, allowing her to kick her little feet.
Marine B felt a hard squeeze in his heart. Her little arms and legs… Her chubby little cheeks… Her wide, bright eyes…
She was just…
“ So cute!!! ” Marine B squealed out. In that instant, his entire body turned to stone right where he stood.
Sengoku was in the middle of talking when it happened, now staring there with wide eyes and the other person on the line repeatedly asking if he was there.
“Sengoku! Garp! They still have their Devil Fruits!” Tsuru yelled out. She pulled her Marine coat over Hancock to block the others' view of her.
It was a good thing that Marine B got petrified first. Hancock reminds Tsuru too much of holding her own grandchildren and the cuteness had almost gotten her.
With all the Warlords still having their abilities then the situation just got a whole lot worse.
The Fleet Admiral whipped around to check on the other Warlords and the first thing he sees is a pink feathered ball dangling from the ceiling.
“Get down from there!” Marine C was trying to pull Doflamingo down.
“Nooo!” Doflamingo wailed. He was holding onto his strings as if his life depended on it. No matter how hard Marine C pulled, he couldn’t get the toddler down.
There was this ‘whoosh’ noise. The Marines quickly turn towards Mihawk who had just swung Yoru. The Black Blade was huge in the kid’s hands but the size mismatch does not matter apparently since the next second, the ceiling above their heads was cut clean off. This causes Doflamingo’s string to snap, dropping the small flamingo into Marine C’s arms.
Sengoku looked up with a blank smile at the blue skies overhead.
“Sengoku… Sengoku are you there?!” The Den Den Mushi was still on, trying to catch his attention from his palm. “Sengoku!”
“What a beautiful day,” he murmured. “Not a cloud in sight.”
“No good… I can’t get through to him! The Fleet Admiral had finally gone senile. You lot hurry and get to the meeting room! Sengoku, just hold on until the science department gets there, okay?!” With that, the Den Den Mushi went back to sleep.
Smoker witnessed the ceiling get slashed off. Well, it was hard to miss if one was walking down the hallway and all of a sudden the roof disappeared.
He just knew it was one of the troublesome Warlords. So he barges into the room with his jitte on the ready.
“Which one of you messed up the building like—“ Before he could finish his sentence, there was a loud bang. A bullet passes through his chest in a puff of smoke and then lodges into a wall behind him.
His brows furrowed as he turned toward the direction of the gunshot. “Normal bullets won’t work on…”
His words trailed off as his eyes landed on a familiar face. That stitched scar across his face… Crocodile. A kid version of Crocodile was wrestling with Marine A over a gun.
“C-Captain Smoker! I’m sorry! I couldn’t stop him from shooting!”
Crocodile successfully pulled the gun, now aiming at the poor Marine.
Smoker didn’t have the slightest clue as to what was happening and it seems like he needs to get the situation under control.
He lunged at Crocodile who changed his target. Crocodile fired the gun and the bullet harmlessly passed through Smoker’s shoulder. Panic flashed in Crocodile’s eyes as Smoker was only a few feet away. He begins to dissemble into the sand to escape.
This version of Crocodile was far too slow. Even though he still had his Devil Fruit, the skills and reflexes didn’t transfer over.
In a single move, Smoker had Crocodile pinned against the ground. The seastone on the tip of the jitte was pressed on the kid’s throat to prevent any escape.
“Behave, Crocodile.” Smoker glared at him. “I don’t care if you have reverted to a kid, I’m not going to go easy on you.”
Crocodile presses his lips together as he glares back. “You…” His lower lips began to tremble. “You BIG MEANIE!”
Smoker was taken aback at Crocodile’s outburst and even more so when the small pirate started tearing up.
“S-Smoker…” Marine C looked nervous. “He… he really is just a kid… Please go easy on him.”
The Crocodile he knew was a no-good pirate, always looking at him with those condescending eyes and the one before him was Crocodile. He's a kid but still Crocodile nonetheless!
Smoker stared at Crocodile who was holding back tears at this point. After a long pause, he pulls the jitte off of him.
“Sorry,” The Marine Captain turned away, sheepishly. “… I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
When Crocodile sniffled and stood up, Smoker tentatively patted him on his head.
At least the worst qualities of the Warlords didn’t get transferred.
Behind Smoker, he can hear Doflamingo’s familiar laugh but in a toddler’s voice. When he looks in that direction, he can see Doflamingo scaling the wall with Marine C panicking as he wasn’t able to reach him.
A wall that had an open roof.
On second thought, only some of the worst qualities didn’t get transferred.
Smoker sprinted over to the wall, separating one arm from his main body, and swiped the troublesome flamingo up in his hand.
“Hmph.” Doflamingo pouted as he was put back on the floor.
Smoker looked around the room. Hancock was brawling in Tsuru’s arms. Jinbei was also crying, wailing something about wanting to be in a tank. Mihawk had just cut off another section of the room, one side now overseeing the outdoors. Shadow bats were flying around the room in circles.
Doflamingo started to cry too—for no apparent reason.
The three veteran Marines were busy with Sengoku sitting on the floor, with an empty smile on his face. Tsuru was too busy trying to calm Hancock down and Garp was laughing and snacking on his rice crackers.
Smoker really wants to shove four cigars in his mouth.
“Hey, go and call for more people here!” He ordered, turning to Marine C.
Marine C nodded and hurried out of the room.
“Today’s going to be one hell of a day….”
The Marines managed to calm the Warlords down somehow. Well except for Mihawk who had his arms folded, glaring at the one who confiscated Yoru. If looks could kill that marine would have been dead ten times over.
Tsuru rocked Hancock in her arms, the baby now happily sucking on a purple pacifier. She was still hidden by her coat to avoid any more accidental petrification.
Jinbei got what he wanted, floating around in a big glass box filled with water.
Doflamingo who was nonstop trying to climb the walls is now fixated on Crocodile who sat next to him, eating a tomato as if it was an apple.
Moria was getting scolded for releasing all his shadow bats but it doesn’t look like he’s paying any attention.
Smoker sighed. Now all six Warlords are settled down. He scowled. Wait… six? He counted them again and sure enough, one of them was missing.
“Where is Kuma?!”
“I saw him walk out of the room…” one of the Marines answered Smoker. “He told me he was going on a trip.”
Smoker pressed his fingers against his temple and sucked in a huge breath of air. If only he could smoke right now… (he can’t because of all these children)
“…. And why didn’t you stop him?”
“I thought he meant a trip to the bathro—“
“Hurry and get him back here!”
The Marine saluted him, stammering, “R-r-right away, Captain Smoker!” before scampering off.
This whole thing was getting him a throbbing headache. Plus Sengoku and Garp were of no help at all! The Fleet Admiral had given up, snacking with Garp while Garp was being himself and Tsuru had her hands full with Hancock.
“I’ve got a good idea,” Garp suddenly announced. “Why can’t we train each one of them to be Marines?”
A look of displeasure instantly went over the three older kids (Crocodile, Moria, and Mihawk), their lips curling in disgust.
“What’s with those looks?!” Garp got up from his seat to stand in front of them. “You three will grow up to become strong Marines.”
“I don’t want to be like you and the others,” Crocodile retorted. “There’s nothing good about being a Marine.”
“Becoming a Marine is boring,” Moria added. “I don’t want to follow orders from random people.”
“That’s true.” Mihawk nodded in agreement. “Plus I want to be a swordsman when I grow up.”
“I want to make lots of money!”
“And I want to be a cool scientist.”
“You can do all three while being in the Marines!”
The three kids sulked.
“But I don’t want to be a Marine,” they whined in unison. That earned them each a punch of the head which left a bump.
Garp sat back down next to Sengoku in a huff. “I can’t believe kids these days!” he grumbled. “They have no sense of duty!”
Smoker doesn’t know what Garp expected. All of them grew up to be notorious pirates. But if there was a slight chance of moving them to the right path then…
“Get away from me!” Crocodile’s voice rang out. He had gotten up to get another tomato from the table and Doflamingo followed him, latching onto his leg. “I don’t want to play with you!”
He shook Doflamingo off of his leg who let out a yelp when he fell. It took a few seconds before his mouth scrunched up.
A collective ‘ oh no ’ ran across the marines’ mind and Doflamingo bursts out into tears. Smoker sighed at this. No one, especially him, wants to deal with a crying child. As he takes a step forward, Doflamingo suddenly stops crying. It’s scary just how fast the toddler had stopped, now he’s standing up with his fists clenched and his cheeks begin to turn an angry red.
Smoker’s sighed even deeper. Dealing with a crying kid was bad but a temper tantrum was even worse. Before he could do anything else, there was this overwhelming pressure that blasted through the room.
He barely managed to keep himself upright as marines around him dropped like flies. The three older Marines were taken by surprise as well, eyes widening at what they were witnessing.
This intense feeling… No doubt about it. This was Conqueror's Haki.
The other Warlords managed to stay conscious but they were struggling to withstand it.
Thanks to this, Sengoku snapped out of his happy daze.
“How does a toddler have Conqueror!?!” Sengoku shouted out. “This should not be happening.”
“This whole situation shouldn’t be happening.” Tsuru corrected him.
Getting knocked unconscious from a toddler tantrum Haki sounds ridiculous but it was beginning to come true (for Smoker). Doflamingo’s Haki seems to be growing stronger by the second. Smoker was forced to drop down to one knee, unable to stand anymore. He looks over to Tsuru, Garp, and Sengoku, seeing their faces are unchanged.
That’s the veterans alright. It’s no wonder the latter two were able to face Roger and Whitebeard in their prime.
Garp stood up and pulled up his right sleeve. Tsuru saw what his intentions were right away and shot him a piercing glare.
“Garp. You are NOT knocking out a toddler!” Tsuru’s sharp tone made him sit back down.
“What do we do then? Wait for him to run out of energy?” Sengoku asked. “Who knows how long that will take and–wait what is he doing?!”
Crocodile was inching his way towards Doflamingo.
“Hey, Crocodile! Get away from him!” Smoker yelled out. “You’ll be knocked out if you get that close!”
“I’m… fine!” Crocodile managed out between gritted teeth. The Conqueror’s Haki was clearly having an effect on him as he was fighting to stay conscious while making his way to the toddler. Before anyone could say anything else, he thrust his hook forward.
A tomato on the end of his hook was shoved in Doflamingo’s face, much to the dismay of the Marines. They brace themselves for another wave of Haki.
But that didn’t happen.
Instead, the Conqueror’s Haki vanished instantly. The Marines cautiously look back at Doflamingo. The small flamingo has a bright smile on his face, hugging the tomato against his chest.
“… I want the rest of my day off,” Sengoku said after a long moment.
“No one’s stopping you.”
The very next day, all of the Warlords reverted to normal with no memories whatsoever.