"I guess he's getting a bit serious now," Cherry said. "Or maybe he's just angry?"
Kaido landed on the rooftop in a form he hadn't taken until now. It was much like his human body, only with many of his dragon features; his hybrid form.
"Yamato…" Kaido growled. "What are you doing? Interfering with my fight, let alone on the side against me… What's gotten into you to betray your father so?"
"You aren't my father!" Yamato declared, standing a distance away from Kaido in a defiant stance. "I am a child of Wano, and I will avenge it!"
"It seems that you need more discipline. I've been too easy on you," Kaido said with a frown.
"You locked me away with explosive cuffs, you psycho!" Yamato shouted. "You- Eep!"
Yamato threw himself to the side as Kaido blurred towards him, smashing his kanabo into the roof where Yamato had just been standing.
A cloud of dust exploded outward from the shattered stone beneath Kaido's blow, creating a smoke screen of sorts. Yamato tried to keep his senses peeled, but he was too flustered by the sudden assault. He failed to notice Kaido quickly enough to avoid his strike when he emerged from the cloud.
*BLAM*
Yamato skipped across the rooftop like a flat stone across a peaceful lake. He may very well have continued in that fashion until he fell off the side, if Luffy hadn't dropped down in his path and caught him.
"Yamato, you shouldn't be here. You agreed to leave this to us," Luffy said.
"I had to step in! You were losing!" Yamato groaned. "Look at you, you're exhausted!"
"I'll be fine in a minute, Gear Fourth just takes a lot out of me. I'll be back in top form in no time," Luffy disagreed.
Yamato shot him a disbelieving look, which was perfectly understandable given who they were dealing with. It was difficult to trust that someone can fight Kaido and win one on one.
Seeing that look of glint of confidence in Luffy's eye was quite the compelling argument, though.
"Fine, but I'll help buy you that minute you need!" Yamato refused to back down completely.
"Alright," Luffy said, deciding not to argue further. In part, this was because Kaido was bearing down on top of them both.
"I don't approve of your choice of friends, my son!" Kaido reduced another patch of roof to smithereens as Luffy slipped away with Yamato in his arms.
"I'm not your son!" Yamato spat back at him.
"Oh? Are you my daughter again? You should really make up your mind," Kaido said as he tried to bludgeon the two to death.
"Shut up, old man! You aren't funny!" Yamato swung his own kanabo in a clash with Kaido that he couldn't win.
A series of explosions were heard above them in quick succession, culminating in a devastating drop kick from Cabernet right on top of Kaido's head.
Despite burying Kaido up to his knees, he was barely phased by the attack that could have turned a man into red paste. He reached up and grabbed Cabernet by the legs, then used her as a weapon to bat away a charging Luffy.
"Are you ready yet, Straw Hat? I grow tired of playing around," Kaido called out.
Yamato released a blast of icy breath at him, which he met with a fiery breath of his own. The two elemental waves crashed into and annihilated one other. Yamato knew he'd done that on purpose, because Kaido's flame could have easily overpowered his ice.
"I didn't know this action movie would also be a family drama," Cherry said whilst stuffing miniature cookies into her mouth.
"Hey, uh, shouldn't we help them?" a wild Ace appeared.
"At the very least you won't be," Cherry said, then narrowed her eyes dangerously at him. "If you try it, I'll toss you off this rock."
"I'm not going to steal all my kid brother's glory," Ace raised his hands in surrender. "That'd be super lame… but he's not doing too good out there."
"That's just how he does things," Cherry waved off his concerns. "It's stupid, but I swear he does this on purpose; tries to raise the stakes, the excitement, before finishing the job."
"I was thinking that he ought to be stronger than this…" Ace rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
They all winced. Kaido landed one of his infamous Thunder Bagua in a direct blow against Luffy.
"I think that one knocked him out, silly boy," Cherry clicked her tongue.
Luffy wouldn't stay knocked out for long, not this early in the fight, but it certainly wasn't a good sign. Kaido was as quick as he was strong, so he could be right on top of him in a split second if Yamato and Cabernet failed to keep him occupied.
Robin stood up.
"You're going?" Cherry asked, not an ounce of the threatening gaze she had leveled at Ace was present in her eyes.
"I can't just sit back and watch this after all," Robin sighed. "I have to do something…"
"Alright. I'll trust your judgement," Cherry leaned back in her seat, clearly not intending to go as well.
Robin vanished and reappeared some distance away, then did so again.
Cherry looked at Ace, who had started to chew his nails. "Here."
"Huh?" Ace took what she had handed him; an oversized, but surprisingly well cooked hunk of meat on a bone. "What am I meant to do with… Oh, right."
"You can feed him, just don't help him fight Kaido," Cherry said. "Meat always gets his motor running, but I'm sure you know that better than I do."
"Heh, you could say that. I swear he'd have eaten all the wildlife back home to extinction if I didn't keep him under control," Ace said. He wasted no more words and snuck off to fight where Luffy had landed.
Cherry watched on silently, a placid expression upon her face.
"... You're bored, aren't you?" Reiju asked.
"Of course I'm bored!" Cherry would have flipped a table if she'd had one to flip. Actually…
Cherry produced a table from her pocket, carefully arranged some treasures atop it, then flipped it over without mercy!
"What I wouldn't give for Akainu to suddenly appear from thin air right this second, just so I'd have something to do besides twiddling my thumbs!" Cherry said.
Cherry paused and looked around, scanning the horizon. "No? Well, it was worth a shot."
She slumped back into her chair, ignoring Pudding who was attempting to surreptitiously scoop up some of the gold and gemstones that she'd spilled onto the rooftop.
"Couldn't you go find something to do, then? I'm sure there are still some of Kaido's elites running amok somewhere," Reiju suggested.
"No, no, I've gotta sit here and make sure Lufyf doesn't die. He's not so fragile that he'd give up on his dream if I had to save his butt from being kicked by Kaido," Cherry sighed.
"Demonio Fleur!" An enormous Robin appeared in the middle of the fight, with horns and wings like a demon. A powerful palm strike slammed into Kaido, forcing him away from dealing a finishing blow to Yamato.
"Well…" Cherry settled in. "I guess I don't mind the view, at least~"