To Cook Up A Scheme

Giving Hancock a look that screamed 'you cannot be serious', Dante was beginning to question how exactly so much of the world was head over heels for this woman. He then reminded himself that she was by far the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, and promptly gave up trying to reason.

"Apologies, your Grace, but I must have misheard. Did you just call me a worm?"

She huffed in indignance once more, turning her head, aggravated that Dante had yet to heed her advice and shut up, a thought that was shared among the Kuja who had the displeasure of escorting Dante.

"I distinctly remember telling you not to leer at mine delicate self with your disgusting eyes, and yet still I find myself assaulted by your stare. Fix that."

Averting his eyes to the floor so as to not deal with the whiny Empress any longer, Dante resumed his interrogation at the stake.

"Looking away. Happy now? Anyways, can we skip to the part where you either try kill me or reveal some elaborate plan you have for me? Considering I'm just a 'worm' to you I doubt you have good intentions."

Giggling into her hand, an action that seemed to make every woman of the Kuja swoon then and there, Hancock found herself amused by Dante's lack of awareness of just how many problems he had caused the world.

"Unfortunately for you, your death will not come at mine hands. Instead, the World Government shall decide your fate. And I assure you, what they will do to you is far worse than any death I could give."

"Well, that's just peachy. Quick question, what're you gonna do if I just... do this?"

Pulling his arms out from the simple bindings around them, Dante observed the reactions carefully. The Kuja drew arms, began shouting, pandemonium and the lot. Hancock though? She simply sat there, almost uncaring. Her eyes never left Dante, choosing to watch him like a predator to prey.

"So? What now, Empress? How do you plan to hand me in to the World Government?"

She scoffed, and uttered a phrase that would stick in Dante's mind for a long time to come, as a strategy he wished he could utilise.

"You will obey me and allow yourself to be captured. Why?"

The World slowed in that very moment, as if fate had chosen her as its champion. The universal laws that governed reality deemed her worthy, and the Gods blessed her being. Stars shone in formation around her, and Dante found himself utterly entranced.

"Because I am Beautiful!"

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The beauty he once saw had been quickly replaced by smug self-superiority, and the image Dante had was quickly shattered as the Empress's pride shone through heavily.

'Is that it? That's why she expects me to be captured so easily?' He thought to himself, astonished at how much faith she had in her own looks. He spoke out while the rest of the Kuja were lost in adoration of Hancock.

"And then what? Sorry, you didn't really explain the plan here. I'm kinda lost."

She stumbled. It was the first time in a great many years that someone had resisted her charm, and there was no discernable reason why. Dante clearly was attracted to her, he should be nothing more than putty by now. So, she tried again.

"I don't need a plan. After all, I am Beautiful!"

Dante could only note the swooning of the Kuja tribesmen so many times before it became a bore to acknowledge. Honestly, he was shocked they were so weak to Hancock.

"Uh-huh. And how's that gonna stop me from walking right out those doors?"

"Because I said so! You can't just walk away from mineself, I will not have such disrespect! Especially not from a mongrel like you. You should be bowing in honour that I would even dare acknowledge you!"

Dante leaned forward playfully, as if stoking the anger within her for nothing more than shits and giggles, arms held behind his back.

"Go on then, your Grace. You wanna see me bow? Make me."

As if the floodgates opened Hancock's regal, beautiful visage gave way to a frown of utter fury and rage at Dante's clear lack of respect for her.

"Mero-Mero: Mellow!"

Hancock rose from her seat, holding both hands together in a heart formation, releasing a beam of pure Devil Fruit power from the center that went straight towards Dante at rapid speed.

He simply moved aside a single step, and the potency behind Hancock's attack that would normally dispose of any man in the universe was washed out immediately. It was as though she had been hit by her own Fruit, because Hancock as of now stood stock still, petrified.

"Your Grace? Hello? Fair enough, guess that's my cue to leave."

With that, Dante turned and began to walk towards the exit of the Palace, only to be stopped by the voice of Hancock, who was currently experiencing a crisis of identity after her attack was rendered entirely worthless.

Despite all of this, she needed to have Dante in her favour, he was too valuable of an asset. She lamented that her sisters were not with her, instead being further out along the coast of the island hunting for food. Maybe they could have helped with the negotiations.

"Stop."

Turning once again, in exasperation that the woman was so adamant he be obedient, Dante expressed his anguish with vigor.

"Jesus, what is it now? I thought we were done with the whole prisoner... thing?"

What caused Dante's astonishment was Hancock's current state. She wasn't quite crying, her dignity wouldn't allow such a thing. Instead, she was sniffling at him with an aggression he had never quite seen before.

Eventually, after a few moments she calmed down, and began to enact the next stage in her plan. She had to maintain appearances in front of the Kuja of loathing men still, which indeed she did, however she held a begrudging amount of respect for Dante due to his reputation, which is what spurned on the next action she took.

She walked over, grabbing him by the arm and talking into his ear.

"There are many things you are not aware of. Mineself is willing to explain them."

From there, she addressed the larger populous of Kuja who were still barely recovering from the 'love blasts' Hancock had unleashed onto them.

"Leave us! I do not want you interrupting my interrogation of the prisoner."

With the Kuja tribesmen gone, Dante followed on from behind Hancock as she led him into a chamber that allowed for a better discussion to be had.

She required something from Dante. And he would give it to her, whether he liked it or not.

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The very instant the door was shut, Hancock leaned down and slammed both hands on the table between them, inadvertently making her weighty chest bounce spectacularly - something that occupied Dante's attention a lot more than what she had to say.

"Red Devil, I... ugh... require your assistance."

Snapping out of his brief mesmerised state, Dante looked up and saw the Empress with a grimace on her face at the idea of accepting help from a man.

"The hell could you need my help for? Ain't I just a worm?"

Her grimace deepened at the reminder of the language she had used previously. Her dignity had already been damaged though.

"The World Government seek to attack and enslave my people. I require your help in stopping them. There, I said it!"

Well, that was most certainly not what Dante expected. Sure, he should've guessed given the nature of the island and the Celestial Dragons affinity for slaves, but it still came about unexpectedly. He couldn't say no, now.

"You had me at World Government. How are we gonna do this?"

She looked at him in astonishment, surprised that he had agreed so easily to her request.

"Are you... have you even considered the ramifications of this?"

"Hancock, I am quite literally notorious for fucking with the World Government. I murdered two of their bubble-boys for the sake of it, what makes you think I wouldn't agree to screwing them over again?"

Her thought processes came to a screeching halt. She had heard rumours of what Dante had done, scarce whispers of utter destruction left in his wake, but she never truly paid attention to what he had done to aggravate the World Government, instead being more focused on the heart-rending fear of enslavement once more when threatened with it.

Her voice came out as a mere whisper as she made the connection that he meant Celestial Dragon when speaking of 'bubble-boys'. Her regal attitude had long since been abandoned in the face of a strange mix of hope and astonishment that brewed inside her, leaving a warm feeling within.

"You... what? Why? Why would you dare go against them? Why bring such scorn upon yourself?"

He looked at her as though she were an idiot.

"Well, slavery is bad, ain't it? Besides, they aren't exactly what I'd call paragons of virtue - I figure not many people will miss them."

"But you've made an enemy of the world itself! Surely you would be aware of that."

He leaned further back in the chair he found himself in, legs kicked up onto the table as he allowed himself to relax slightly.

"So what? I'm a man who sticks to his guns, ain't nothing more I can say about it."

She giggled into her hand again, though this time without the same condescending tone it held before.

Instead, she laughed at the fact that Dante made himself enemies of the World Government simply because he doesn't like slavery. It warmed her heart to find someone who fought for a cause she could believe in so earnestly.

"Now, let's get down to brass tacks. What exactly are we gonna do to stop the World Government from destroying Kuja? Did they say how they'd go about it?"

She was mesmerised by him. A man of such strength that he could manhandle Marine Admirals - if her sources could be trusted- didn't even hesitate to help her, because believed it was the right thing to do. He wanted to stop the evils of the World Nobles, stand against the World itself to keep the people safe and because of this she couldn't help but feel a kindred connection to him.

"Uh... Hancock? Your Grace? Can't exactly make much of plan like this."

She snapped out of her brief daze and gave him a small smile, one that held much greater beauty than any she had shown him prior.

"Forgive me. I was lost for a moment. Now then, the World Government had made this threat on my people before, however this was by far the most pressing. The Gorosei have deemed you too great a threat."

Once again, he looked at her as though she were an idiot, though this time for a much different reason.

"The hell's a Gorosei?"

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The Gorosei had gathered, the table of 5 having congregated once more. The moon shone in the night above the chamber they met in, causing a dim white glow to permeate the room.

The first of the 5 addressed the main issue on each of their minds.

"He does not seem interested in the One Piece. His affinities lie with combat over the treasure. With his strength he should surely be far into the New World by now... yet he isn't."

The second of the 5 was much more scornful in his assessment of Dante.

"We need him removed. I fail to see why such roundabout methods need to be used. We are more than enough to dispose of him."

The third of the 5 calmly dismissed his colleagues proposal.

"You forget yourself. He has a Fruit that has never been seen before, not even we know the origins of his power. This goes beyond science. We must wait."

The fourth of the 5 guffawed at the hesitance of the third.

"Are you scared, my friend? Fancy fruit or not, he presents a great threat to our plans. Should he continue to intervene, I fear the Liberation would be delayed considerably."

And finally, the fifth of the 5 silenced the discussion with a few solemn words.

"He can try."