The Ambushing Hero

In the Corrida Colosseum, D-block turns into a storm of bodies and dust. The announcer cries for Rebecca to stop running, while the spectators shout, "Stop running away!!" and jeer that she is being overpowered. Rolling Logan barrels after her, and someone yells, "Rebecca is running back and forth!!" The other fighters begin aiming for her at the same time, and the crowd notices they are all getting knocked down after the other. Rebecca breathes hard, but she keeps moving, refusing to spill blood even as the arena demands it. A voice shouts, "Fight, and spill your blood!!" and another cries, "That's dirty, Rebecca! Stand up and fight!!" The scene frames her not as weak, but as someone surviving inside a bloodthirsty system that hates her for refusing its rules.

The toy soldier reveals Rebecca's lineage to Usopp, Robin, and the Tontatta. He says Rebecca is part of the cursed family, and the others connect the pieces: the toy had said he was her father, so she must be the granddaughter of King Riku. Usopp blurts, "Which means, back when you were a human, you..." and the soldier confirms the truth without pride or hesitation. He explains that it all began on the night Rebecca started serving at the royal palace. Someone asks whether her mother was Monet, but the soldier corrects the idea and says there began Rebecca's tragedy. The past that Doflamingo buried is no longer an abstract political crime; it is the personal history of a child, her mother, and the father turned into a toy.

Usopp reacts to the story with confusion, first guessing, "The bird woman of Punk Hazard?" and then realizing the woman in question is not Monet. The toy soldier explains that in the past ten years, Dressrosa looked peaceful from outside, but the land itself and the people changed. He says the country was protected by the Riku king and by the peace that had existed before Doflamingo's return. Rebecca's mother, Scarlett, had lived hidden from the world, yet she and her daughter were not spared by the coup. The soldier admits he once wanted to eat alone and live simply, but the greatest thing was that people could live in peace. The tragedy is not only that Doflamingo took power; it is that he destroyed a quiet life that had no interest in war or the throne.

The toy soldier recounts the night the royal family fell. He explains that Dressrosa was a nation of unparalleled peace and that the royal family could be called a miracle. For eight hundred years, the royal family ruled without war, and people lived believing no one would call for violence. Then, suddenly, a nightmare descended upon the palace. Doflamingo appeared and spoke to the king directly, while soldiers shouted, "Don't raise your voice." Someone cried, "Who are you? Speak now!!" and the palace was thrown into confusion. The story narrows toward the moment when Doflamingo stood before King Riku and turned a peaceful kingdom into a stage for humiliation and terror.

Doflamingo announces himself to King Riku: "I'm Donquixote Doflamingo. And I've returned home, as the rightful king of this land!" The king does not understand, and Doflamingo keeps smiling as he explains the old claim. He says that of course Riku's people were well-governed, and he admits he has worried about a certain pirate named Donquixote. He laughs that he heard the king had launched an attack, and says he came directly to the palace before the rumors spread. Then he names his price: "King Riku! For ten billion berries... I'll sell you this country!!!" Doflamingo threatens to take over and refuse Riku's chance unless the king accepts by dawn. The demand is not a bargain; it is a trap shaped like a transaction.

Doflamingo says he should simply take over and not give Riku a chance at all, then makes the conditions harsher. "By all rights," he says, Dressrosa does not belong to Riku. He orders the king not to make the demand known to the people and gives him until dawn: "You have until dawn tomorrow!! Do not collect any from outside nations..." If Riku tests Doflamingo's power as king, he will lose. The page turns a royal audience into extortion. Riku has one night to gather ten billion berries from the people he has protected for years, without explaining the threat and without receiving foreign aid. Doflamingo knows exactly how cruel the request is and enjoys watching the king trapped by his own responsibility.

King Riku's advisors understand the impossibility of the demand. One says there are none in the country who could be called wealthy, while another admits, "But... less and even their intended collection would not be enough..." Riku asks, "And what if we should fight...!?" but the answer is bleak. Fighting would make the country battle itself, and even if they gathered an army, the fact that Dressrosa has been free of war for 800 years is proof that they are not beasts. Someone says they will not become wild animals and kill here. Riku makes the decision that fits his whole reign: they will borrow the money from the people, gather ten billion berries from throughout the land, and lose the trust of the people for a time if it saves them from war.

Tank Lepanto receives the order and tries to grasp what it means. The king's army is small, but the command is urgent: "So that Dressrosa shall survive!!!" Citizens see soldiers moving and ask, "Hey!! What's going on?" One soldier yells, "Gather up all the cash in the town and bring it here!!!" Another person asks, "How could you... the king'll have something to say about this?" The answer is chilling: "This is on the king's orders!!" Across the country, troops and officials begin acting in Riku's name, demanding money from people who have no idea that the request is meant to save them from Doflamingo. The good king's command already looks like betrayal.

Riku appears on the Den Den Mushi projector and addresses Dressrosa. He tells the citizens, "We can't explain, and there's no time!!" and begs, "Just trust in King Riku!!! And bring as much as you can!! Bring all your money here!!!" People in the streets are stunned by the sudden broadcast. One asks, "Such a thing, all of a sudden..." another says, "It's the Den Den Mushi projector...!!" and then recognition spreads: "It's King Riku!!" Riku says, "I have an urgent request...!!" The request is unbelievable: "Without asking for an explanation... I need you to give me all the wealth of this nation." The nation hears a king they trusted ask for everything they own, with no reason he can safely say aloud.

Riku bows before the nation and says, "I need you to lend me all of it!!! All your money!!!" The people are horrified. They ask, "But why are we doing this...!?" and "And so suddenly...!?" Others stare at the image and say, "The king... bowing like that..." Some citizens plead with him to stop: "King!!! There's no need to bow so low!!" and "Please stop that! Raise up your head!!!" Riku's humility only deepens their confusion. They still believe in him, and that trust makes the trap more painful. Doflamingo has forced Riku to turn his virtue into a weapon against himself: the more sincerely the king bows, the more completely the people will obey a request they do not understand.

The citizens beg Riku not to abase himself. One cries, "You'll be the laughingstock of the world!! Please stop that!!" Another says, "Showing this sort of foolishness to the public is an act unfit for this line of kings!!!" Riku answers with absolute resolve: "I beg of you!!" and then says, "This is no jest or jape! If need be, I will prove it... by cutting off my own hands and feet!!!" The crowd recoils in horror, and Riku's loyal subordinate Tank understands the real plan. Riku says, "Tank, listen... In case all goes awry...!! At least I'll bring down that Doflamingo...!! I'll leave it to you to request aid from other nations and deal with the aftermath!!" He is preparing to sacrifice his reputation, body, and throne if necessary.

The citizens choose trust. They reason that their kindly King Riku would never make such a request with malice in his heart, and someone says, "This is no small thing, so there must be a reason!!" The order spreads: "Hurry up, everyone!! Just as the king said!! Gather up all your money!!" and "Let's bring all our money here!!!" Tank mutters, "We have to get that money, no matter what...!!" Money begins passing from hand to hand as people empty what they have. Riku watches and says, "This is the virtue... of our king..." He apologizes: "I'm sorry!" The people answer, "We humbly borrow this from you!!!" and believe, "This is the trust built by the Riku family over 800 years!! What an amazing country... Surely we'll be saved!!!"

The collection turns into a nationwide emergency. Soldiers shout, "To the palace! Hurry!!!" and "Bring all the wealth of the nation..." In Southern Town Sevio, people receive word: "Squad captain Tank! In Sevio, the king is...!!" Another warns, "My liege, you needn't have come here yourself!!" The order to run away spreads through the streets, but the people still hesitate because they do not believe King Riku could truly betray them. They say, "King Riku!! We don't know why this is happening, but... we believe in y-" before violence interrupts. Riku himself, apparently moving against his will, attacks. Citizens cry, "Eh!? King Riku, what're you...!?" as the nightmare begins turning the people's trust into fear.

The city erupts. Flames and debris explode through the streets as Riku and his soldiers attack the very people who were trying to help them. Citizens scream, "Kyahh!!" and scatter while the king's body moves like an enemy's weapon. Buildings are crushed, smoke and rubble fill the air, and the crowd cannot understand what has changed. The horror is not just the destruction; it is that the violence appears to come from the king they trusted. Doflamingo has made the people's eyes witness only the outcome, not the strings controlling it. The king's desperation, the money collection, and the sudden massacre all combine into the false story Doflamingo wants Dressrosa to remember.

Riku screams from inside his own body, "Stop! Please stop!!!" Citizens beg, "King Riku, please stop this!!! Did we do something wrong!!?" and "Out of the way!! Don't come near me!! Get away from me!!" Riku's body keeps attacking despite his will. One person cries, "Even the soldiers!!" as the army joins the rampage. Another shouts, "My body... is moving on its own...!!" A soldier realizes the same thing is happening to him. The massacre is not treason by the king or the army. It is Doflamingo forcing their bodies to act while leaving their minds awake enough to suffer. The citizens see only betrayal, while the victims inside their own bodies can do nothing but scream.

Doflamingo watches from above and laughs, "Fuffuffuffu!!" One soldier cries, "My king...?" while another demands, "What on earth are you doing!?" Doflamingo mocks the scene: "How terrible... fufufu! What an awful king..." The attack is named Parasite, with a note that its Japanese reading ties the word "thread" into the meaning of parasite. Doflamingo orders the controlled soldiers: "Dance for me!!" and tells them, "Well, now this night will truly begin, my soldiers." He is not merely conquering Dressrosa by force. He is staging a public nightmare, using Riku's body and army as puppets so the kingdom will hate the very people trying to protect it.

The memory reaches its full shape. Soldiers and citizens cry, "Even the soldiers are rampaging now!!" and one possessed man screams, "Why's my body moving on its own...!? I'm not doing this!! My body..." Another says, "And the same thing is happening to the king...!!" The people ask, "Why are you doing this, King Riku!?" and insist, "He'd never make such a mistake!!" but panic wins as bodies fall and flames rise around the colosseum-like city. Someone cries, "What's happened to the king!?" while Doflamingo smiles from the shadows: "More, more...!!! I want the whole country trembling with fear!! And then, when they've come to hate King Riku with all their hearts...!! That's when the hero will appear...!" The page names the whole event as Doflamingo's trap and shows how he manufactured the need for a savior he planned to become himself.

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