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“Happy birthday, young master!” Giolla sang as she, Gladius, and Diamante approached Doflamingo with a large box with a bow on top of it. “Here’s our gift to you! It’s exactly what you’ve wanted for a long time now!”
“You didn’t,” Doflamingo grinned, perceivingly.
“Hell yeah!” Diamante said. “It was a bitch and a half to get, but we finally found one!”
The sizable crowd gathered around as they watched the Donquixote captain open his last birthday gift of the night.
His family had organized everything, hosting his lavish party on the deck of the Numancia Flamingo. Exotic food and expensive champagne were in abundance. Many of his shady business associates attended with costly gifts while sliding envelopes of money into his hands.
Beautiful escorts hovered around him, planting birthday kisses on his cheeks. One escort, in particular, kept herself draped around his arm, making sure to keep him happy all night. The crew specifically hired this one to exclusively follow him around and cater to his every insatiable pleasure at the end of the night. It was rumored she was top-notch in her trade. An expensive feisty busty brunette- the master’s type- who knew all the right things to say to rile him up with anticipation. It must've been true because whatever she was whispering in his ear all night kept his tipsy joker grin stretched to the absolute fullest.
Doflamingo, reclining on his birthday throne and adorned in his new designer pink suit, took the box and pulled out the small bundle within it, and to the guests' surprise, the bundle revealed a wiggling infant. It had a head full of wild golden hair, and large blue eyes, along with a short pair of ivory horns protruding from its head.
“No way. I can’t believe it.” Doffy stood with the creature dangling in his hands. “You actually found me a fighting fish fishman.”
Giolla, barely holding back her excitement, clapped. “We’ve secretly known about him since he was a newborn. We all chipped in and brought him home yesterday! I just knew you would be very pleased and wanted to show him off at your party tonight, young master!”
Doffy carefully inspected it, turning it all over, noting its healthy skin and the small black dorsal fin sprouting from its back. He pulled back its lips, inspecting the few tiny human teeth poking from its gums.
Baby 5 next to him shrieked in delight. “He’s so cute! How old is he? What’s his name?”
“He’s almost one,” Giolla said. "And he doesn’t have a name yet. What will you name him, master?”
Doflamingo finished looking the thing over. “I’ll have to think about it.”
The baby fishman began to squirm and whine in the man’s hands.
He chuckled. “Fussy already, little one?”
“He’s probably still hungry.” Giolla had a full bottle ready to give the baby. “The little thing can guzzle down milk. He’s on his fifth bottle this evening!”
“You’ve only been giving him milk? He’s gonna need more than milk soon.”
Doflamingo shifted the baby fishman into the crook of his arm and fed him the bottle. Its large eyes followed the man’s every movement.
Doflamingo smiled. “It’s perfect! A wonderful gift! Thank you all.”
All the guests applauded and congratulated him as he sat back down with the infant on his lap.
Baby 5 sat on his other leg.
“Can I take care of him too?” she asked.
He chuckled, “You sure will.”
On his other side, Buffalo grabbed the baby’s little hand and it gripped the older child’s finger hard causing him to yelp and jerk it back. “Whoa! He’s strong! He almost crushed my finger!”
“That’s good. It means he has a lot of fighting fish blood in him.”
“What exactly is a fighting fish anyways?” Baby asked.
Gladius spoke first. “Fighting fish are centuries-old fish that live only in a specific part of the Grand Line. There are fishmen of different species, so there are also fishmen that also have fighting fish blood.”
“Correct,” Doflamingo said. “They only live in the waters surrounding an ancient kingdom named Dressrosa. They’re incredibly strong, rare, and extremely valuable, and a fighting fish fishman is even more so.” He lifted the infant to stare into its blue eyes through his shades. “And now I own one.”
Doflamingo paraded around the rest of the evening with the baby nestled in the crook of his arm– it looking rather at ease, only fussing whenever he got hungry. Giolla was close by with a full bottle that he consumed in no time.
The women at the party were enamored at the sight of Doflamingo cradling the baby in his arms.
“Young Master!” one gleamed, clutching at her heart as if it were going to burst. “You look so fatherly!”
“You look so natural with a baby!” Another chimed in.
“Oh, perhaps you can have one with me!”
“No, give me one!”
“Me too!”
One after another goated him on and he visibly reveled in the attention.
“You’re such a great daddy already.” His exclusive brunette rubbed against him. “Your father must have been a great man too.”
A sudden dreadful suffocating aura engulfed the crew members surrounding him, and the family shared a nervous split-second glance as they recognized this stifling aura. This happened whenever something clandestine about the young master was encroached upon. Something they knew never to speak of.
The baby began to fidget and whine on Doflamingo’s lap, but before the crew could think of a change of subject, the stifling aura dissipated and the man’s smile returned.
He shucked the woman's arm from his and then rested the infant across his knee and patted his back.
“Listen here, whore.” His words came out playful but the sting of deadly venom seeped out between each syllable. "Everything I’ve learned, everything I’ve become, and everything I will be, I’ve obtained with my own hands- and this endeavor will be no different,” he let out a dry chuckle.
“Understand that my paternal instincts come from my own willpower. So never again imply that the pathetic teachings from a weak man have anything to do with my success–”
From behind him, Corazon spat out his drink and then started a violent coughing fit.
“Everything alright, brother?” Doflamingo asked, yet he didn't even spare him a backward glance.
Corazon quickly walked away, but not before tripping over his own feet and then disappearing.
This time the man let out amused laughter. “Your uncle is a silly man, don’t you think?” Doflamingo lifted the child to his face.
Suddenly, a stream of white soured milk erupted from the infant’s mouth and splattered across Doflamingo’s face and its curdled remnants dripped down his chin and stained his new suit.
Everyone around them fell silent, except for the baby, loudly crying in discomfort. The terrifying oppressive aura returned full force and threatened to choke out everyone as the vein in the man’s forehead grew bigger.
“Y-young master! I am so sorry!” Giolla shouted. “I should have burped him before! Please, let me get you a fresh jacket! Give him here!” She rushed over to grab the baby, but the man held up his hand, stopping her.
“It’s fine for now.” He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the vomit from his face. “Accidents are to be expected. He’ll just have to learn not to do that anymore. Come here, everyone. I want you all to see something."
He stalked over to the edge of the ship and the crowd murmured their hesitation.
With one hand, he unbuttoned his jacket and shook off his soiled shirt, and with the other, he dropped the crying baby off the side of the boat into the dark water below.
The guests screamed in horror as they rushed to the edge to see the child’s fate, only to see its small form splash and disappear beneath the water's surface.
Doflamingo’s escort screamed in horror then glared at him with disgust. “What are you doing?! Why did you throw him in the water, you monster!”
“If you’re so worried about it, then go get it.”
With a swift jerk of his long leg, he kicked the woman off the side of the boat. She let out a quick horrified shriek before her head slammed against the boat’s hull then she crashed into the water.
She thrashed around to stay afloat, screaming in pain- her head streaming with blood.
“Behold, everyone!” Doflamingo gestured to the water. “You’re about to witness the true power of a fighting fish!”
Suddenly, the woman was violently pulled under the water's surface, leaving only a trail of bubbles as proof that she was ever there then after a few daunting seconds, she broke through the surface and her thrashing and pain-filled screams intensified as she fought hard against the force trying to drag her back down. Her arms flailed around her head and her screams became desperate gasps of air and everyone finally saw the cause.
The infant had latched onto her neck with its serrated teeth and viciously shook her like a predator trying to snap the neck of its prey. It kept her in its grasp until her desperate gurgling quickly fell quiet and her thrashing grew weaker as more blood muddied the waters around them. Then finally, it dragged her head first beneath the black surface.
The crowd looked on in stunned disbelief until Doflamingo’s callous unbridled laughter brought them back to their senses.
“Someone go fish him out when he’s done eating, and mind your fingers if you want to keep them.”
He sauntered towards the boat’s cabin to freshen up.
*****************
“There he is!” Doflamingo said in his most excited baby voice once he had returned in a fresh suit and a better mood.
In fear, one of his constituents brought the baby back from the water, holding him far away from his body.
The baby’s eyes were now as red as the blood that covered his mouth. His two rows of sharp serrated teeth stretched into a big smile as he watched Doflamingo gesture playfully in front of him.
“Did you have a good meal, my little monster?” He eagerly whisked the little fish into his arms and wiped away the blood from his mouth with a handkerchief. “You were fussy all this time because you were hungry for a real meal. We’ll make sure you eat good from now on.”
Doflamingo grabbed the nearest glass of wine.
“Let’s toast! To the newest member of my family, Dellinger!”
Giolla gasped and clapped. “Oh what an excellent name, young master!”
“Very strong and fierce!” Diamante agreed.
They all approved and toasted to the baby’s new name and status, and as the party went on without a hitch, Dellinger’s eyelids grew heavy and he quietly drifted off to sleep in the arms of his new master.