Inside the lab on the other side—
After reading Doflamingo's lips,
Vegapunk and Kuma both felt a chill run down their spines, as if they had been plunged into an icy abyss.
"Doctor, we have to abandon this place. If we stay any longer, Doflamingo will take all of Egghead with him."
Kuma was more anxious than ever. His grip around Bonney had unconsciously tightened, the veins on his arms bulging beneath the skin.
The World Government still didn't know about the Revolutionary Army's connection to Vegapunk.
Even though Vegapunk was trapped here, they hadn't lost contact.
But Doflamingo was different. The Sky Island he occupied was still a complete mystery even now.
Even with the Paw-Paw Fruit's teleportation ability,
He had never been to that island. If Vegapunk were taken—
Kuma couldn't imagine how he'd mount a rescue.
And knowing Doflamingo's style, once he had Vegapunk in his hands...
There was no telling what the world would become.
"We're not going anywhere."
Vegapunk pressed his apple-shaped head, regaining his composure, and sighed helplessly.
No matter what Doflamingo's intentions were, he probably wouldn't kill him outright.
Stussy still had a chance to survive, too.
He decided to stay quiet and wait to see what happened next.
"Why not?" Kuma couldn't understand Vegapunk's confidence.
"Kuma, can the Paw-Paw Fruit outpace lightning? And how far can it really teleport someone?"
Vegapunk looked up at the rolling clouds above, lightning flashing through them, and asked softly.
He read the papers too.
This must be the user of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit that followed Doflamingo.
He'd love to study him.
Kuma: "..."
There were limits to his speed and teleportation range.
"And besides... I've only just finished building PUNK RECORDS. If I go too far, there's no telling what kind of interference might happen."
Vegapunk pointed to the storage chamber above where his brain was kept.
Even with the Brain-Brain Fruit, if his body strayed too far from the brain, the antenna on his head couldn't receive the signal.
Maybe the human body, like a computer, would crash.
Seeing Kuma still hesitating, Vegapunk urged him again.
"Kuma, go now. Or it'll be too late. I'll contact Dragon to back you up."
He might not die—but Kuma? He couldn't be sure. Especially with little Bonney.
"Doctor, I'll come back for you!"
Cradling Bonney, Kuma prepared to move.
As for the possibility that Doflamingo might just give up on them?
The Heavenly Yaksha had gone to great lengths to silently assault Egghead—there's no way he'd give up his eyewitnesses.
Before the words even finished—
BOOM!
The island's clouds burst apart.
Kuma vanished from the spot.
Vegapunk pulled a Den Den Mushi out of a nearby secure box to contact Dragon.
Moments later, it let out a long, continuous "beep—beep—beep."
A failed connection.
Holding the Den Den Mushi, Vegapunk looked toward his stored brain—as if gazing past it, up toward the sky.
"Is it the lightning interfering with the signal transmission... or something else?"
With communication down, his attention returned to the monitor in front of him.
"Kuma... will you make it out alive?"
...
On the coastline of Egghead, Kuma's figure had suddenly appeared.
Flying just above the surface of the sea, he shot toward the open ocean at breakneck speed.
Whoosh!
The sharp sound of air being torn apart woke Bonney in his arms.
Clutching her father's thick fingers, she curiously peeked outside.
"Papa, are we traveling again? Aren't we playing with Vegapunk-san anymore?"
Back when Dragon invited Vegapunk to Ohara, Bonney had spent time with him.
"Mhm." Kuma gave a curt nod, fully focused on the storm clouds above.
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit user... seemed to have picked up on his presence.
"Papa, my hair's flying!"
Bonney reached up, giggling as she saw her reflection on the ocean surface and her hair lifted by the wind.
The next moment—
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Explosive thunder and cracking air split the sky.
Not lightning bolts—
But pillars of lightning descended from the clouds.
Like divine punishment from the heavens, they struck at Kuma as he left the island's airspace.
Kuma's brows furrowed. His Observation Haki screamed warning alarms through his senses.
With one arm holding Bonney, the other swung through the air, and his figure flashed back and forth at high speed across the ocean.
Dodging the lightning strikes just before they hit, veering clear of their paths.
Seawater vaporized into steam under the intense heat of the lightning, blanketing the area in mist.
The resulting shockwaves turned the once-calm sea into raging waves, tidal surges rolling in every direction.
Even young as she was, Bonney understood—
They were being hunted again.
She bit her lip, clutching tightly onto Kuma's clothing, trying not to distract him.
...
Aboard the Numancia Flamingo, hovering above Egghead—
"Boss, the target looks like he's about to escape."
Robin, looking through a telescope, spotted Kuma flying further and further under Enel's pursuit, nearing the edge of the storm.
Umit and Giberson, crouched beside the railing, nodded in agreement.
That Rumble-Rumble Fruit guy doesn't seem so tough if he can't even stop one man.
Smoothie gently patted Robin's head and explained softly,
"This is just a pointless struggle. Doffy accounted for this already."
"Fufufufufufu~ A bird freshly tossed into a cage must measure its limits before it accepts reality."
Doflamingo grinned, watching Kuma's speed and distance begin a countdown.
"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0!"
BOOOOOOM!!!
A thunderous crash erupted as Kuma suddenly halted mid-air.
Like a car going 260 km/h slamming into a steel pillar.
His hat was shredded, scalp torn open to reveal pale white bone beneath, blood spraying into the air.
If not for Kuma's superhuman physique and the compressed air barrier around him mid-flight—
He would've been torn to shreds on impact.
And little Bonney in his arms?
Were it not for the Paw-Paw Fruit's unique properties, and Kuma shielding her entirely with his body at the last moment—
She would've been obliterated.
Drip.
Bonney felt something wet hit her head. She looked up—
Her father's bloodied, terrifying face.
Her tiny hand instinctively gripped his shirt tight. Her body trembled with fear and worry, and her voice cracked into a sobbing cry:
"Papa, you're hurt! Waaaaah!"
Behind Kuma—
A vast, near-invisible web of threads stretched across the sea and sky like a wall.
It was this trap that had blocked his path.
Under normal circumstances, as a master of manipulating air pressure, Kuma would've sensed this barrier.
But with all his focus on evading the lightning, he'd noticed nothing.
"Don't cry, Bonney. I'm fine."
He tried to soothe her briefly, but before he could assess his injuries—
A familiar crackle crackle burst in his ears.
No time to think.
Kuma swung his palm—and vanished again.
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!
Exploding lightning roared across the sea, blinding flashes lighting up the entire storm-darkened region.
From his new position further away, Kuma could now clearly see it—
An enormous, all-encompassing structure, like a birdcage enclosing every direction.
His heart sank.
There was nowhere left for him and Bonney to run.
"Hmph... hahaha! Thought you were good at running? Then RUN for me, you bastard!"
Enel grinned arrogantly as he dove from the top of the birdcage, golden staff in hand.
He pointed one hand toward the sky and then clenched his fist, shouting:
"1.5 Billion Volts!!!"
-----------
Fanfic is finished 527 chapters in total on p@treon/tambeerg