Doflamingo stared blankly at the small, trembling figure before him – Baby 5. A complex mix of thoughts and recollections churned within him. He remembered her fatal flaw: that overwhelming, pathological need to feel needed. It was the very trait that, in the original timeline, led her to become the only member to betray the Donquixote Family, choosing Sai over loyalty, over family. Canon Doffy's heart must have bled. Honestly, Doflamingo mused grimly, what a spectacular failure of 'education' that was.
While Doflamingo was lost in thought, the arrogant nobleman continued his tirade against the helpless child.
"You filthy little beggar! You've dirtied my daughter's clothes, you damned creature! Swine!" the nobleman spat, spewing insults relentlessly.
Beside him, his daughter chimed in with equal viciousness, kicking repeatedly at Baby 5 while wearing an expression of utter disgust. Truly the picture of nobility, utterly repulsed by commoners.
'Poor children just can't compare to noble children, can they?' some onlookers thought bitterly, though none dared voice the sentiment aloud. 'Your child is a precious treasure, but ours aren't even considered human.' Most in the crowd were ordinary folk; even if pity stirred within them, they were powerless. Compared to the nobleman's status and influence, their own strength was pitifully inadequate. They were insignificant, their words meaningless. All they could do was bury their resentment deep inside and watch the scene unfold with detached, cold eyes.
The rising clamor finally broke Doflamingo's reverie. His gaze sharpened, focusing back on Baby 5.
She was trembling violently now, her thin body covered in fresh bruises overlaying older marks of abuse. Tears streamed down her small, grimy face. Trapped and seeing no escape, she seemed resigned to her fate, only able to weakly beg the nobleman for forgiveness.
"Forgive you? A joke!" the nobleman scoffed coldly. "Who's going to compensate for my daughter's loss, hmm? Little thing, you're coming with us! We'll make sure you're 'compensated' properly!" His tone dripped with menace.
"Am I... needed?" Despite the terror and pain, Baby 5 latched onto the nobleman's words, her core obsession surfacing through her tears.
"A lowly creature like you?" the nobleman sneered, his face twisting into a sinister mask. "Who could possibly need you? I'm simply taking you away so I can torture you slowly!" Ice-cold words dripped from his foul mouth.
But Baby 5 seemed not to hear him, lost in her own desperate world, clinging to the belief that she was finally, truly needed by someone.
"Get up! Filthy thing! Aren't you coming with us?!" the richly dressed girl snapped impatiently, her voice thick with revulsion.
"Do you need me?" Baby 5 murmured again, almost deliriously.
"Worthless creature! Who needs you?! Know your damn place!" Hearing Baby 5's persistent question, the noble girl finally lost her temper completely, raising her hand to strike the child and teach her a lesson.
"I need you."
Doflamingo's voice cut through the air, calm yet commanding. "Come with me." He simply couldn't stand by and watch any longer. Though this rotten world had jaded him, made him cynical about many things, a faint ember of the hot blood and compassion from his former life still flickered within him.
"R-Really?" Baby 5 gasped, looking up in disbelief, her tear-filled eyes fixing on the tall, imposing figure in sunglasses who had just spoken.
"Yes," Doflamingo confirmed firmly, giving a slight nod to emphasize his certainty.
"Hey!" the noble girl shrieked, her face contorting in fury as she rounded on Doflamingo. "Who the hell are you, damn you?! How dare you interfere in our business! Do you have any idea who my father is?!"
The nobleman beside her glared daggers at Doflamingo, his expression thunderous. He couldn't believe someone in this town would dare show him such blatant disrespect. The onlookers murmured in surprise, most shaking their heads in pity for the stranger – foolishly offending a powerful local noble over a worthless beggar girl.
"Noisy," Doflamingo stated flatly, his tone laced with undisguised annoyance.
"You bastard!" the girl shrieked, turning to her father. "Daddy, he dared to curse me! You have to teach him a lesson! Hurt him badly!"
"Heh," the nobleman chuckled humorlessly, his voice dangerously low. "Young man, you have quite the nerve. Do you have any idea who I am?"
Doflamingo couldn't be bothered wasting further words on these ignorant fools. He slowly raised his arm, extending a single index finger, pointing it directly at the nobleman.
"Since there seems to be no one capable of upholding justice in this world," Doflamingo mused aloud, almost to himself, a mocking smile playing on his lips, "then today, I suppose I'll be charitable and reluctantly administer it myself, just this once. How amusing it would be if those self-proclaimed righteous Marines witnessed me, a villain, dispensing justice! The irony is truly delicious."
"You insolent creature!" the nobleman sputtered, enraged at being so blatantly ignored. He was the most powerful noble in this area!
"Volt Finger: Condemnation." Lightning crackled, converging intensely at Doflamingo's fingertip. In less than a heartbeat, a searing beam of electricity shot forward, instantly piercing the foreheads of both the nobleman and his arrogant daughter.
The nobleman collapsed, his eyes wide with disbelief, forever open in death.
"Ah! Murder!" someone in the crowd screamed. Panic erupted. The onlookers scattered like frightened birds, desperate to distance themselves from the sudden, brutal violence.
"You... you dared... you killed him!" one of the nobleman's bodyguards stammered, staring in stunned disbelief.
"Noisy," Doflamingo repeated dismissively. "Divine Judgment." He regarded the remaining guards with utter contempt. "Ants. Go join your master." Another blinding flash of electrical power erupted, and the bodyguards were instantly incinerated, reduced to nothing but ash.
In moments, the once crowded and clamorous street fell eerily silent. Doflamingo surveyed the quiet aftermath, finding the tranquility rather pleasing.
"Do you... do you really need me?" Baby 5 asked again, her voice trembling. Astonishingly, she seemed utterly oblivious to the massacre that had just occurred around her, still trapped within the singular focus of her need to be needed.
Pathetic, Doflamingo thought. But if you're this desperate to be needed, then you might as well be needed byme.
He lowered his hand, looking down at her with piercing seriousness. "Yes. I need you very much."
"That's great! I'm needed! I'm finally needed!" Baby 5 burst into tears again, but this time they were tears of overwhelming joy, the surrounding horror completely forgotten.
"However," Doflamingo cut through her elation sharply, "don't celebrate too soon." He knew her fatal flaw – she'd offer herself to anyone who asked, accepting any burden if it meant feeling needed. If that wasn't curbed, she'd be nothing but a liability. Besides, if he was taking on a maid, he intended for her to serve him, not be easily swayed or taken advantage of by others.
His sudden shift in tone made Baby 5 tense immediately, her brief happiness evaporating. "Am I... not needed by you anymore?" she asked tentatively, fear creeping back into her voice.
"I only want you to be needed by me," Doflamingo stated clearly, his voice leaving no room for misunderstanding. "If someone else asks for your help, if someone else says they need you, you cannot agree. You must refuse them. Can you promise me that?"
"That..." Baby 5 hesitated. Her ingrained obsession, her very reason for being, was simply to be needed. The identity of the one needing her barely mattered. This condition directly challenged the core of her compulsion.
"You've had a hard life, haven't you..." Doflamingo pressed, his voice softening slightly, employing a different tactic. "...Baby 5?" He deliberately used her name.
Her head snapped up, surprise flickering in her eyes. "How... how do you know my name?"
"That's not important," Doflamingo dismissed. "What's important is that I also know... your mother abandoned you."
The word 'abandoned' struck a raw nerve. Painful memories flooded back, and fresh tears streamed down Baby 5's face as if a dam had broken.
Doflamingo continued relentlessly, seemingly unmoved by her tears. "I can give you a life of comfort, free from hunger and fear. I can care for you, protect you like family. My only requirement in return is that you obey my orders, and mine alone. Can you do that, Baby 5?" He laid out his terms, cold and clear. The implied choice hung heavy in the air: accept his terms, his absolute authority, or face the consequences. If she clung to her indiscriminate neediness, she was useless to him, even dangerous. He was, after all, not a good person. His hands were already stained with blood; one more child's death would mean little in the grand scheme. He wouldn't hesitate. The choice was hers.
Baby 5 listened to his harsh, unwavering words, her sobs gradually subsiding. She stared up at the tall figure before her, his expression unreadable behind the sunglasses. Wide, tear-filled eyes met his gaze. Finally, she made her decision.
"I... I want to follow you!" she declared, her voice surprisingly firm. "I want to be needed by you! From now on, I will only listen to you!" Her words were resolute, like chopping nails and slicing iron.
"Really?" Doflamingo questioned, his voice still tinged with doubt. Baby 5 nodded earnestly, meeting his gaze without flinching.
"If you disobey me," Doflamingo continued, hammering the point home, relentlessly chipping away at her old psychological defenses, "I will kill you with my own hands. I have no use for worthless tools, nor do I want someone who belongs to everyone who asks. Can you truly do it? Can you truly belong only to me?"
"I... I... I can do it!" Baby 5 stammered, but with growing conviction.
"You can do what?! Say it! Louder!" Doflamingo commanded ruthlessly, demanding absolute submission.
"I... I WILL ONLY LISTEN TO YOU!" Baby 5 screamed, pouring all her strength into the words. "I CAN ONLY BE NEEDED BY YOU! I WON'T PAY ATTENTION TO ANYONE ELSE'S NEEDS EVER AGAIN!" Her desperate cry echoed piercingly down the now-silent street.
"Very good," Doflamingo finally said, offering a measure of praise for her declaration, though his tone remained devoid of warmth or pity. "Remember that. You belong only to me. You obey only me. You are needed only by me!"
"Yes!" Baby 5 replied, her voice trembling but firm, accepting his absolute command.
"Let's go," Doflamingo said simply, turning and starting to walk away. Behind him, Baby 5 clenched her small fists, gritted her teeth, and stumbled determinedly to follow.
Doflamingo walked slowly, deliberately. He didn't fully trust her declaration yet. Children in this wretched world learned to be frighteningly precocious; deception could come as easily as breathing. Although he understood Baby 5's history and her core obsession, he knew such deeply ingrained compulsions couldn't be erased so easily. To ensure her loyalty and usefulness, he would need to carefully 'train' his new little maid over time. Some flaws simply had to be corrected, one way or another.
And so, the scene unfolded: a small, ragged girl trudging determinedly behind a tall, imposing man clad in flamboyant attire. Any remaining onlookers watched them pass but dared not speak or interfere, the memory of the recent, brutal massacre still fresh in their minds. That stranger was clearly someone not to be trifled with, a man who killed without blinking. Yet, perhaps, some thought with a flicker of gratitude, he was also one of the few true 'envoys of justice' they might ever witness. After all, doesn't everyone, deep down, yearn for a hero?
For Baby 5, at least, there was no question. Doflamingo was her hero. He had rescued her from the depths of misery and despair. Though his terms were harsh, demanding absolute obedience, and his demeanor severe, a profound sense of contentment filled her small heart. She was needed. Finally, truly needed. And for the first time, her future held the glimmer of promise.
Author's PS:The current timeline is 1503. Baby 5 is only five years old! In the original canon, Rosinante returned to the Donquixote Family as an undercover agent in 1504, and Baby 5 was taken in by Doflamingo around the same time. Law arrived in the Family in 1506.